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Beagles and Beagling 



A. F. HOCHWALT 


w 


AUTHOR OF 

“Dogcraft”, “The Pointer and the Setter in America”, “The 
Modern Pointer”, “The Modern Setter”, “The Airedale 
for Work and Show”, “Dog Keeping for the Ama¬ 
teur”, “The Working Dog and His Education”, 

“Bird Dogs, Their History and Achieve¬ 
ments”, “The Farmer’s Dog”, “Dogs As 
Home Companions”, Etc. 



1923 

Sportsman’s Digest Publishing C*. 
Cincinnati 




SF 4 #? 

/I t 


Copyright, 1923 

Sportsman's Digest Publishing Co. 


( f 


©Cl A 760774 

NOV-6 '23 





TABLE OF CONTENTS 


Introduction 


PAGE 


.) 


Chapter I. 


Early History. 11 

Capter II. 

Later History. 35 


Chapter III. 

Suggestions for Beginners—A Rabbit Hunt With 

Beagles . 49 


(\ rv 

() i 


Chapter IV. 

Home Training for the Shooting Beagle. 

Chapter V. 

C oncerning Field I rials and bield I rial I raining 31 

Chapter VI. 

Selection and Breeding. 9 ( 

Chapter VII. 

Care of the Matron—Rearing the Puppies. 113 

Chapter VIII. 

Type and Standard of the Beagle. 12<‘> 























INTRODUCTION 


qpHE beagle seems to be constantly growing in 
popularity. He is the favorite sporting dog 
of the classes as well as the masses. Far back in 
the days of Queen Elizabeth this merry little hound 
furnished amusement and pastime for royalty, 
clergy and laity, and he has come down through 
the ages, losing nothing of his early prestige; but, 
on the other hand, gaining favor everywhere. At 
the present day he is cherished by rich and poor 
alike and, judging from the constantly growing list 
of field trials in all parts of the country, his star is 
not only still far from descending, but is assuming 
greater brilliancy from year to year. 

There is good reason, however, for the popularity 
of the beagle. Perhaps one of the best is that he 
does not require commodious or luxurious kennels. 
He is thoroughly at home in any environment. And 
while some of the more pecunious fanciers have 
erected elaborate establishments for the breeding 
and development of the beagle, it is generally con¬ 
ceded that more really good hounds have been bred 
in the backyards of the workingman, or under the 
floor of some farmer’s barn than amid the most 
costly surroundings. The beagle is not the pam¬ 
pered pet of the wealthy; his requirements are few. 
Ordinary care and attention in the way of dry sleep¬ 
ing quarters, wholesome food and a certain amount 
of exercise will keep him at his best. Being a small 
dog, the cost of upkeep is moderate; he is com- 







6 


Beagles and Beagling 


paratively easy to raise and, as a rule, he is not diffi¬ 
cult to break for the field; nor does it require the 
services of a professional trainer to bring out his 
best qualities. Furthermore, the favorite game of 
the beagle is to be found wherever there are open 
spaces. The rabbit is a denizen of all climes, 
whether it be the cotton tail, the snow shoe, the 
northern hare, or any of the many other varieties. 
The beagle is an adept in working all classes of this 
prolific tribe. In this connection, it might be ob¬ 
served, that while other game may become scarce 
or even extinct, there is little danger of the genus 
Leporidae passing out of existence. 

In those states where the quail has been wrong¬ 
fully placed upon the song bird list, the beagle has 
made the most rapid strides toward ingratiating 
himself into the hearts of the sportsman. Ohio is 
one of those states, and as a result more beagles are 
bred and owned within its boundary lines than any 
other breed of sporting dog. His rise in popularity 
might have been at the expense of other varieties, 
but such a condition is only natural, for once a 
sportsman always a sportsman, and when the 
primitive instincts of man are suppressed in one 
direction they will find expression in another. With 
the passing of the quail in Ohio many a bird dog- 
lover transferred his love for sport to the beagle, 
perhaps without the smallest pang of regret, for the 
merry little hound can furnish him an abundance of 
exciting pastime. 

To own one, or a brace, or a pack of beagles en¬ 
tails a comparatively small investment. It is true 
the supply and demand regulates prices, but there 





Introduction 


7 


are ten breeders of beagles today where there might 
have been hut one a score of years ago. And while 
prices for dogs are in keeping with the general trend 
of the times, the demand seems to be met very well. 

No doubt the tremendous growth of beagle trials 
in practically every state in the Union is the most 
remarkable feature in connection with this breed. 
Begun as an experiment less than thirty years ago, 
their development and popularity spurted up with 
mushroom-like rapidity. Beagle trials, however, 
may be participated in at a much lower cost than 
bird dog trials; no doubt that, in a great measure, 
accounts for their rapid rise. The sport is not the 
pastime of the idle rich alone, but may be indulged 
in by all who are imbued with the spirit of sports¬ 
manship regardless of the size of their purses. 
Clean, wholesome sports are the heritage of the 
American nation and in this particular class of 
recreation its votaries may be great or small; they 
meet on the field of these competitive tests on equal 
terms. The workman, the artizan, the professor, 
the lawyer, the doctor, the financier, rub shoulder 
to shoulder and in beagle trials this spirit is exem¬ 
plified to a greater degree than anywhere else. The 
man of means may pay large sums to have his 
hounds trained, but the workman or the artizan, 
devoting but a few hours a day to his dogs, brings 
them to the trials as well prepared as the financier, 
and he has the same chance to win. Dogs, like 
men, meet on equal terms and that constitutes the 
esprit de corps of the entire system. 

The fancy or business of beagle breeding has 
become a fixed industry. Pedigrees are as carefully 








8 


Beagles and Beagling 


studied in the production of this useful and beautiful 
little hound as are those of any other variety of 
domestic animal. Haphazard breeding is no 
longer resorted to. Blood lines have a definite 
value, consequently the beagle fancier, whether he 
be professional or amateur, wishes to know all he 
can learn about his favorite breed and he who is 
successful measures his triumphs by the time and 
study he has given his hobby. 

In a book confined to the limitations of the 
present little volume it is impossible to go into the 
most minute details of the beagle’s history, for the 
subject is much larger than the size of the dog 
might warrant, but his inches are not measured 
when writing of his many desirable qualities. He is 
unquestionably a dog for all time; he occupies a 
distinctive place in the realms of field sports. 
Granting this to be beyond dispute, 1 shall endeavor 
to at least touch upon the most salient features of 
his sphere of usefulness and his development in 
America. 



¥ 















Fine Team of Bcaqles. 

































CHAPTER I 


Early History 

T EGEND and tradition, if not authentic history, 
tell us that the beagle was known in the days 
of King Henry \ III, but came into still greater 
popularity when his daughter, by Anne Boleyn— 
Elizabeth—reigned as Queen of the English people. 
In those days, it is said, the beagle was a great 
favorite, of royalty itself and old pictures are extant 
showing the Court going out on its hunts with 
beagles carried in the gauntlets of the huntsmen 
and huntswomen or in the panniers of the saddles. 

From this we must necessarily draw the conclu¬ 
sion that the beagles in vogue those days were very, 
very small, or the gauntlets and panniers very large. 
We do know for a certainty that the beagle most 
in favor in those days ranged in size from eight to 
twelve inches. Occasionally at this day and date 
we see some specimens of the breed under nine 
inches, but they are considered almost too small for 
practical work. Some years ago, however, Norvin 
T. Harris, of Shadwell, Va., had a bitch measuring 
under nine inches which he wrote me about fre¬ 
quently and which he stated, gave him as much 
pleasure and satisfaction in the hunting field as 
any of the regulation size beagles. The standard 
measurements of the present are divided into two 
classes, namely, under thirteen inches and thirteen 

inches and under fifteen. These two divisions are 

(in 



12 


Beagles and Beagling 


accepted as the correct measurements at the present 
time and they are so classified at field trials and 
bench shows. Anything larger than fifteen inches 
is disqualified. 

Reverting again to those early days. The claim 
is made that the beagle is the result of experiments 
in crossing the old south of England or Southern 
hound with the harrier. By a concerted system of 
breeding to the smallest specimens so produced the 
beagle was eventually brought down to the minia¬ 
ture size which was in style during the times of 
Oueen Elizabeth. The vogue for this small type 
of dog did not last, however. These dwarfed 
specimens, while possessing keen noses, very musical 
voices and a peculiar adeptness for hunting in packs, 
were very slow; so slow indeed that they were 
scarcely able to run down their quarry, although it 
is said they would worry over a trail for hours and 
by this very persistence accomplish in the end what 
they set out to do. Namely, take up the scent and 
drive to a kill or to the place where the hare holed 
or disappeared. 

According to Youatt, who wrote during the first 
half of the past century, the miniature beagle, did 
not remain popular long, but practically dropped 
out of voge for a long time, although, after a lapse 
of many years the breed was resuscitated. In the 
edition, published in this country in 1846 , and 
edited by E. J. Lewis, M. D., Youatt says the 
following: 

“There are many pleasurable recollections of the 
priod when the ‘good old English gentleman’ used 
to keep his pack of beagles or little harriers, slow 


Early History 


13 


but sure, occasionally carried to the field in a pair 
of panniers on a horse's back; often an object of 
ridicule at an early period of the chase, but rarely 
failing to accomplish their object before the day 
closed, ‘the puzzling pack unraveling wile by wile, 
maze within maze.’ It was often the work of two 
or three hours to accomplish this ; but it was seldom, 
in spite of her speed, her shifts and her doublings, 
that the hare did not fall a victim to her pursuers. 

“The slowness of their pace gradually caused 
them to be almost totally discontinued, until very 
lately, and especially in the royal park at Windsor, 
they have again been introduced. Generally speak¬ 
ing, they have all the strength and endurance which 
is necessary to ensure their killing their game, and 
are much fleeter than their diminutive size would 
indicate. Formerly considerable fancy and even 
judgment used to be exercised in the breeding of 
these dogs. They were curiously distinguished by 
the names of ‘deep-flewed/ or ‘shallow-flewed,' in 
proportion as they had the depending upper lip of 
the southern, or the sharper muzzle and more con¬ 
tracted lip of the northern dogs. The shallow- 
flewed were the swiftest and the deep-flewed the 
stoutest and the surest, and their music the most 
pleasant. The wire-haired heagle was considered as 
the stouter and the better dog/' 

The more pedantic student will even go farther 
back than the days of the Tudors for the origin 
of the beagle. Some writers assuming that a dog 
known as the ‘‘Kenet" in the days of King Canute 
and Edward the Confessor is the beagle of today. 
Whether it was or not, can scarcely affect the little 


14 


Beagles and Beagling 


hound's status at the present time, for while it may 
appear to be more erudite to endeavor to establish 
these claims to the animal’s great antiquity, I do 
not see what benefit it is to the owner living in the 
twentieth century, for in the final analysis, no proofs 
have ever been forthcoming to show that the dogs 
of King Canute’s times were the same as the beagle 
of later days. The name, beagle, as a matter of 
fact, is of French origin from the corrupted word 
“beigle,” meaning small. 

Coming down to later days, “Idstone" mentions 
a number of good packs of his day, in his book, 
“The Dog,” published in 1872, and we may draw 
the inference from his and other writers of the 
mid-Victorian period, that owners of these little 
hounds bred for purity of type and breed charac¬ 
teristics. It was much the same with the beagle 
in England, as with foxhounds or bird dogs. 
Every country estate which kept the breed at all, 
confined the breeding operations within it own lines, 
thus, the various strains were well established by the 
time they began to be recognized as a breed in 
this country. 

The writer previously mentioned, alludes to one 
pack as follows: “One pack I remember belonged 
to a very large, lame wine merchant; it may be 
observed that men of great size generally affect the 
most diminutive dogs which they can find. He had 
ten couples varying from about iy/2 inches down 
to 11 inches in height." 

Farther on he cites a pack that was broken to 
the gun, which was evidently more or less of a 
novelty in those days (Idstone’s Book was published 


Early History 


15 


in 1872). “I have known beag'les broken to the 
gun, be writes. “An old friend of mine, long 
dead, Henry Franklin, Esq., M. D., had such a 
pack at Aldernay, and with such voices as they 
ran in view, one would fancy that the rabbits could 
have heard them across that dangerous tide the 
Swinge, and amongst the green lanes of Guernsey, 
eighteen miles away. These came from Devon¬ 
shire, from a Mr. Clack, but they were rather large 
for the purpose." Another pack that he speaks of, 
is that of James Crane, of Southover House, near 
Dorchester. The members of this pack were small 
ones, but according to our authority were a swift 
lot. Of these he says: “At my urgent request he 
has exhibited them once or twice, and I need hardly 
say, with complete success, winning everywhere. 
His standard is nine inches, and owing to their 
wonderful hind-quarters and general frame develop¬ 
ment, they can account for a rabbit in about five 
minutes. I believe that Mr. Crane originally took 
to the beagles to rid himself of the rabbits which 
had become quite an annoyance on some of his 
furze and moorland, and which, from the nature 
of the ground, were always beating him in keeping 
them within bounds. On this wild tract, which 
forms a wide district commencing about a mile 
from his house, there is every chance for the rabbit 
if pursued by ordinary means. Ferreting is difficult, 
for the old earths are deep, intricate and extensive. 
It is always a great treat to me to have a day’s 
hunting with these beautiful beagles." 

As has been the case with other breeds of dogs, 
crosses of various kinds have been introduced into 


1 () 


Beagles and Beagling 


the beagle at various times. No one, naturally, can 
furnish positive proofs of these crosses, for nearly 
every English country estate that kept packs had 
“its own secrets in breeding/’ just as the late 
Edward Laverack, the breeder of setters maintained 
that “there were some secrets” he did not deem 
advisable in giving to the public. The secrets, it 
has since been shown, are the crosses lie used in 
his setters. 

In some cases the strains have probably been kept 
purer than others. The old heavy type of black and 
tan strain, known as the “Kerry beagle,” was per¬ 
haps pure of his kind, but he was slow and almost 
too painstaking; something like the old Spanish 
pointer of the past would be as compared with our 
modern dogs. The Kerry beagle was essentially a 
miniature bloodhound, heavy flews, long ears, great 
dewlap and in fact, even his expression resembled 
the bloodhound in a small edition. He, it is said, 
was of Irish origin. 

There came a demand for swifter dogs than those 
of this type, however, and it is then that the various 
crosses are supposed to have been resorted to. The 
greyhound was one of these crosses and some say 
the deerhound, while still others claim that a dash 
of the spaniel has something to do with the long¬ 
haired varieties that were more or less popular in 
some districts. Another quality was still needed; 
this was gameness. For this purpose the bulldog- 
cross was used and sometimes the fox terrier. 
Perhaps the latter was resorted to much oftener 
than some might suppose and when one looks over 
the numerous types of beagles and notes the terrier 


Early History 


expression in so many of them, he can well imagine 
that the fox terrier or some of the other terrier 
varieties have had something to do ith the forma¬ 
tion of certain strains. 

The southern hound type as exemplified by the 
Kerry beagle, however, is the preponderating influ¬ 
ence and it is from this variety that the beagle 
inherits his keen nose. But the Kerry beagle is 
scarcely an influence in our present day beagle, and 
it is doubtful if his blood is to be found in any 
of the modern strains. As a matter of fact, the 
Kerry being a dog ranging as high as twenty-four 
inches at shoulder, is more likely to be one of the 
crosses that entered into the composition of our 
American foxhounds and coonhounds. I have often 
thought that, though the coonhound is supposed to 
be of plebeian birth, if his ancestry could be traced, 
it would be found that he has as royal blood in his 
veins as any of our present day dogs and it is beyond 
dispute that his nose is keener than the average 
type of hound. No doubt the Kerry beagle is 
responsible for this. 

The American foxhounds, known as the Henry 
strain, are also said to be descendants of the 
Kerry beagle. 

However, when all is said, hounds of various 
types, colors and sizes came to this country in 
Colonial days and the early history of the beagle 
is therefore analogous with that of the pointer and 
the setter. Early importations of these varieties 
came over from that sport-loving nation—England 
—and no records having been kept, they were 
known in later days as natives. Beagles were in 




18 


Beagles and Beagling 


the same category. There were so-called beagles 
of all kinds in America, previous to authentic 
records; large straight-legged beagles, low bench¬ 
legged varieties, black and tans, white, black and 
tans, tan and whites, etc. Bloodhound types, harrier 
types and terrier types. 

The real history of the beagle here in America, 
however, begins about the same time as it does 
with the pointer and the setter. This dawn of a 
new era took place in the seventies and the man 
who is given credit for bringing the first true-bred 
beagles to this country is General Rowett, of Carlin- 
ville, Illinois. He was a horseman, but a lover of 
the little hound. His pack, or packs were selected 
in England and no doubt emanated from various 
estates where the “merrie little hound” was bred. 
His selections were evidently made with care and 
an idea for future breeding, for it was soon dis¬ 
covered that he had the best blood and a uniformity 
of type, hitherto unsuspected to exist, by fanciers 
in this country. In color they were evenly marked, 
white, black and tan, and it soon became bruited 
about among hunters that these beagles of General 
Rowett were the last word in beagle breeding, for 
they represented quality, as far as bench show form 
was concerned, and they proved to be of great 
excellence afield. 

The General did not scatter this blood about 
promiscuously, but some of his friends and acquain¬ 
tances secured specimens of the strain and before 
long the Rowett type of beagle became the recog¬ 
nized one. Among the early dogs of Rowett were 
Rosey, Sam and Dolly. Warrior, sometimes credited 


Early History 


19 


as being an original Rowett importation was in 
reality brought over by Mr. Turner, but he was of 
the same type and he was used by the General. 
From the union between Turner’s Warrior and 
Rowett's Rosey came many good ones. Dodge’s 
Rattler being one of the descendants, and he proved 
to be of paramount influence in bringing the Rowett 
blood down through succeeding generations. It was 
in the eighties that the controversies over beagles 
began to get interesting, and at this period a desire 
for a real beagle standard was expressed. The result 
was the formation of the Beagle club. The com¬ 
mittee appointed to draft the standard, consisted of 
General Rowett, N. Elmore and L. H. Twadell. 
In a letter, which appeared in one of the out door 
magazines in 1892, from the pen of Mr. Twadell, he 
tells how it came about that the maximum height 
of the beagle was fixed at fifteen inches. Fhe letter 
was called forth by the discussions that were 
taking place through the sportsmen’s press at that 
period, which was several years after the club had 
been formed and the standard adopted. Eugene 
Lentilhon, in his excellent book, “Forty Years’ 
Beagling,” quotes the letter in full, but I shall con¬ 
tent myself in referring only to that part which 
relates to the height question. Mr. Twadell says : 
the following: 

“And now the reason for fixing the limit at fifteen 
inches. In the old days anything a little smaller 
than a foxhound was by courtesy called a beagle; 
if a pure-bred beagle dog was accessible he was 
crossed on small foxhound bitches, and if at all pre¬ 
potent, the produce showed enough beagle character, 


20 


Beagles and Beagling 


barring - size, to pass muster and satisfy their owners. 
The result of this slip shod, ignorant method was 
that the country was filled with mongrel nonde¬ 
scripts posing as beagles; witness our earlier bench 
shows. It was to strike at the root of this evil 
and rescue the breed from utter extinction that I 
decided to draw the line, rigidly fixed in the 
standard, knowing that the little thoroughbred 
could not be bred from the big mongrel, and that 
those who wanted the true beagle would hark back 
to the pure source to get him. 

“I will not go into an extended argument. The 
subject has been ably and thoroughly handled by 
Messrs. Chapman, Ashburner and “Bradley,* and 
others, and left little to say. The claims of the advo¬ 
cates of the larger dog—that he is more enduring— 
should, however, be answered. 

“I grant that if a mixed pack, i. e., one say of 
16-inch and 12- or 13-inch dogs are run together, 
the small dogs will be at a disadvantage, for the 
reason that the larger dogs, from their greater speed 
and stride keep the little ones on the keen jump to 
stay with them. This being above their rating gait, 
of course exhausts and tires them in a protracted 
hunt. The remedy is simply to assort the pack to 
as nearly one size as possible and weed out the over¬ 
grown dogs. Thus selected, the small dogs will be 
found to afford the best sport and prove the most 
killing pack, giving many more chances to the gun, 
as the rabbit stays longer above ground than if 
rushed at foxhound speed by beagles of nearly fox- 
bound size.'* 

There seemed to be considerable controversy on 



Early History 


this size question for a long time, but the standard 
was fixed and thus it has remained up to the present 
day with no likelihood of its ever being changed, 
at least not in the direction of advocating hounds 
taller than fifteen inches. 

Reverting again to those early strains; after the 
death of General Rowett, or in fact, long before, 
many beaglers began seeking this line of blood and 
while the dogs bred by the Carlinville fancier were 
not distributed promiscuously, a few of the more 
ardent, and at the same time, thoughtful breeders 
acquired some of these individuals, and the fame of 
the Rowetts was assured, though it was done, not 
by boastful statements through the press as many 
a much less worth while breed had been exploited, 
but through sheer merit of the dogs. 

Perhaps two breeders who should be given 
greatest credit for maintaining the Rowett blood are 
Pottinger Dorsey and C. Staley Doub, both of 
Maryland. There were others, as T have said, who 
had the strain, but these two are greatly responsible 
for preaching the merits of it. Naturally, at this 
day and date it is impossible to mention the names 
of all of those early descendents of the original 
Rowetts, but among them were such dogs as 
Rambler, Rally, Lee, Rosey, Venus, Countess and 
others; all of which became famous progenitors of 
later day performers. 

It was some time in the eighties that other good 
dogs were imported and among those who were 
responsible for bringing them over is N. Elmore, 
of Granby, Connecticut, who was one of the organ¬ 
izers of the National P>eagle Club and a member of 


22 


Beagles and Beagling 


the committee for drawing up the standard. Mr. 
Elmore imported Ringwood and Countess, both 
being by Bismarck, out of Gayless. In Pennsyl¬ 
vania, Colin Cameron and Captain William Asshe- 
ton were becoming interested in the little hounds at 
this time and their contribution consisted of Racket, 
a dog which soon became popular. He was by Rally, 
out of Louise which was by Lee, out of Rosey; 
and there was another Rally, by the Original Sam, 
out of Dolly. 

Among those bred by Pottinger Dorsey were 
Fitz-Hugh Lee, Jupiter, Lee II, Storm Cloud, 
Wanderer, Emiline, Potomac and Venus, all of 
which lived their lives and had their influence upon 
the breed in the way of establishing a fixed type 
and improving the field qualities. Both Mr. Dorsey 
and Mr. Doub valued the blood lines to such a 
degree that they seldom sold their stock, though 
they would part with a good one now and then to 
some keen sportsman or fancier. Furthermore, 
neither of these two gentlemen cared very much 
about showing, rather being concerned in perfecting 
the field qualities of their hounds. 

Some strains of dogs, whether they are beagles 
or other varieties, become well known through 
exploitation, and very frequently, certain lines of 
blood or individual kennels obtain a notoriety far 
out of proportion to the merits of the stock repre¬ 
sented. Such, however, cannot be said of the 
Rowetts bred by Staley Doub and Pottinger Dorsey. 
Because these strains were in reality working strains 
of beagles with generations of practical dogs behind 
them, some of the owners of show beagles and espe- 


Early History 


2d 

cially those who kept their hounds for little more 
than to lead them around during show week in 
Madison Square Garden, were inclined to pass up 
these Maryland beagles with a sneer, but I might 
say right at this point, were it not for such men 
of this type who kept up the strain as they did, 
our beagle of today would be nothing more than a 
show’ dog. The only unfortunate part of it all is 
that Messrs. Doub and Dorsey did not exploit their 
strain more, in order to let the beagle fanciers at 
large understand what manner of dogs these 
descendents of the Rowetts really were. 

There was another strain descended from the 
Row r etts, however, which was exploited on the 
bench. The strain was bred and shown by Daniel 
O'Shea, of London, Ontario, wdio was an expert 
in the show business and made a champion of 
Rattler, a dog which in the real sense might not 
have been a flyer from a bench show point of 
view, but he was always shown to the best advan¬ 
tage and so gained his championship honors in a 
short time. 

The Rowett blood began to spread about the 
country despite the restrictions that were put upon 
it and New England obtained a goodly supply 
through Champion Fitz-Hugh Lee and Bowman. 
Both dogs were successful as sires, Fitz-Hugh Lee 
being particularly so. Another dog appeared about 
this time and one destined to make quite a bit of 
history. This was the imported Champion Banner- 
man, which came from the kennel of J. Crane, of 
Dorsetshire. The dog was imported by A. C. 
Krueger, of Wrightsville, Pa., who at that period 


24 


Beagles and Beagling 


(about J884) was one of the very active beagle 
fanciers of the country. Bannerman was a small 
dog and was used by bis American owner to coun¬ 
teract size. It will be remembered that the Crane 
Pack was kept to the uniform size of nine inches 
and when any of the dogs attained more height than 
that, they were promptly drafted out. Bannerman 
was over the Crane limit, but he was a direct 
descendent of Damper and that ilk which bred true 
to the nine inch mark for generations. It may be 
inferred from this, that Mr. Krueger’s importation 
of Bannerman was a well thought out plan, if the 
sole idea was to breed for smaller size. In this 
country Bannerman soon became a champion. His 
get were all lightly marked; that is, there was too 
much white and not a sufficient amount of the 
black and tan, or characteristic hound markings, 
and for this reason there was some objection to 
him, but as a direct influence, only one dog of his 
time was his peer. 

This dog was Frank Forest, owned by H. L. 
Kreuder, of Xanuet, X. Y. Champion Frank 
Forest, it seems, had the best bitches of the country 
sent to him, consequently his opportunities were 
somewhat better than Bannerman. Luck frequently 
plays its part in the breeding of dogs as it does in 
all things of life and thus it was with Frank Forest. 
Early in life he was successfully mated with a bitch 
called Sue Forest, a daughter of Comeroe, one of 
the Elmore strain and it is well known that all of 
the latter were field dogs; in fact, it was conceded to 
be a field strain pure and simple, the owners caring 
more for utility than they did for the preservation 


Early History 


of pedigree and for this reason, Sue Forest goes 
down in history as unpedigreed. Despite all this 
however, all of her progeny proved to be field 
workers beyond the average and so also, the progeny 
by Frank Forest proved to be. It is said that Sue’s 
mother was an imported bitch, but be this as it 
may. Sue Forest had the qualities, although she 
was on the large order and would likely be measured 
out of even the large class at the present time. 

From the mating of Sue Forest with Frank 
Forest came Champion Clyde, Sunday and Gypsy 
Forest, and each in turn produced winners. Clyde 
was under thirteen inches, despite the maternal side 
of his breeding, and he seemed to produce his own 
kind down through the generations. Clyde, mated 
with Ida Novice, proved to be a particularly happy 
nick, for all of the progeny proved to be hunters 
of exceptional merit. Clyde’s son. Champion Trick, 
was a remarkably handy little hound in the field 
and gained his championship through sheer merit. 
Thus we find three field champions in a direct line, 
namely Frank Forest, Clyde and Trick, which 
seemed to be evidence enough that the Forest blood 
bred on, when mated with the right kind of bitches. 

A field strain of beagles that had a great vogue 
in the eighties and nineties was known as the Blue 
Caps. As a matter of fact, dogs of this strain are 
winning regularly today and I know for a certainty, 
if I were looking for a dog to use as a gun com¬ 
panion I would not hesitate on the Blue Caps, were 
I able to get one. Many claims that the true color 
of the beagle is black, white and tan, which no 
doubt is correct and probably the desire for these 


26 


Beagles and Beagling 


colors has led to more or less prejudice against the 
Blue Caps. 

There has been more or less discussion over the 
Blue Caps and their origin, some making the claim 
that the color comes from the old blue spotted 
harrier, or a native small-eared foxhound. As far 
hack as in 1888 some writers in the sportsmen’s 
journals advised keeping away from the “Blue 
Belles,” “Blue Boys” and “Blue Caps” if they 
wished to bred pure beagles. Fortunately, this 
advice was not heeded judging from the success 
that this strain has had as field trial dogs and as 


hunting companions as late as this present season 
of 1923. 

The small-eared native foxhounds might have 
figured in the cross with the Blue Caps after they 
came to this country, but, if the old blue spotted 
harrier had anything to do with making the strain 
the rabbit dogs that thev are, then he deserves the 
everlasting* gratitude of real field beaglers. It is 
stated through other writers that the Blue Caps 
came originally from the kennels of Sir Arthur 
Ashburnham, in England, and that William Asshe- 
ton was responsible for the first importations. In 
conformation and particularly in markings they 
were entirely different from the Rowetts, although 
perhaps even more showy. Many of them are 
blanketed with black from shoulder to stern, while 
the collar, underbody and legs are mottled with blue 
and tan ticks and the head is a rich tan. Personally, 
I always had a great admiration for these markings, 
and after seeing so many of them in the field and 


Early History 


noting their excellent work, I confess my prefer¬ 
ences always went to the Blue Caps. In the matter 
of type, the Rowetts are perhaps stronger in head 
points and truer in expression, but those are distinc¬ 
tions of little value when field merit is considered, 
although I do not mean that the Blue Caps were 
superior to the Rowetts, even in those early days. 

The Blue Caps have always been credited, how¬ 
ever, with having a greater love for the scent of 
the rabbit than any other strain, bin it seemed that 
the crossing of this strain with the blood of Banner- 
man was particularly successful. Bannerman, as 
before stated, came from a small strain and he did 
much to keep the height at shoulder down within 
the limit, not only in breeding to the Blue Caps but 
also with the Rowetts, for Bannerman was equally 
successful as a cross with the latter. The Blue 
Caps, however, were bred about as pure as any¬ 
where up in Canada, where Hiram Card held forth 
in Ontario. 

Bannerman died at a ripe old age in the kennels 
of F. W. Chapman, of Ellsworth, Maine. He did 
as much good for the breed, though perhaps not in 
a direct line, as did Frank Forest, but through his 
descendents in various combinations. Jack Banner- 
man was one of his sons that did much toward 
bringing down this blood to present generations. 

Among the breeders who have been successful in 
breeding the Bannerman-Rowett combination and 
keeping the size down very small was W. E. Deane, 
of Somerset, Mass. He evidently did not consider 
markings alone and the same may be said of C. S. 


Beagles and Beagling 


*>S 

VVixoin, F. B. Zimmer and several other beagle 
breeders of that period who introduced this blood 
into their kennels with very excellent results. 

During this early period a number of other 
beagles had some sort of influence upon the breed, 
all of which assisted in the eventual building of 
present day strains. The Royal Rocks imported in 
the early eighties bv Mr. Arnold, of Providence, 
had some influence on the New England beagles 
though this did not extend very far, especially in 
a practical way in improving field merit, although 
as a background in present day pedigrees one does 
not look upon this blood as objectionable: on the 
other hand, it is considered quite an asset, especially 
when it is mingled with the Rowett blood; Reed's 
Dan D. being a particularly influential source. 

Comeroe, previously referred to as one of the 
well known dogs of the Elmore strain, bred and 
owned by Norman Elmore, of Granby, Conn., was 
from a combination of imported Ringwood blood 
and the Rowetts. Ringwood was imported by Mr. 
Elmore very early and was crossed with excellent 
results upon the Rowett blood. 

W. Stewart Diffendoerfer, of Baltimore, Md., 
was another prominent breeder in the eighties and 
nineties. Among the dogs that he imported was 
Chimer, and at the same time he brought over a 
bitch named Myrtle. The latter was a winner on 
the bench in England and was reputed to be quite 
a good rabbiter. At all events, her matings with 
dogs of the Elmore and Rowett strains were pro¬ 
ductive; among others coming from this combina- 


Early History 


29 


tion being Lady Novice, a good field bitch of more 
than average quality. Chimer was very successful 
as a cross with the Rowetts, one of the outstanding 
products of the union being Spinaway, which Joe 
Lewis, then a very ardent beagle fancier located in 
Connecticut, made the most of. Spinaway was the 
dam of Fashion and Robino II. The latter was said 
to he a very good field dog, hut it is as a bench 
winner that he became particularly noted. I remem¬ 
ber this dog very well after seeing him on the bench 
a number of times at eastern shows. He was a very 
richly marked beagle, somewhat long in couplings, 
but possessing a world of quality in head. Through 
Robinol II comes the dash of the imported bitch 
Lonely, which came from England with three of 
her sons by Ring-wood. Lonely was herself a 
hitch of great quality, though it seems that the 
long cast type came through her, as nearly all of 
her progeny of her own and later generations bore 
this stamp. 

Reverting again to the two early dogs, Frank 
Forest and Bannerman. The former proved to be 
more popular with eastern breeders and his record 
as it actually appears on paper is perhaps superior 
to that of Bannerman, hut the latter dog was in 
reality a great influence, for he crossed well with 
all the various lines in existence. The bench show 
breeders would not take to him because he was not 
marked according to regulation conceptions of color, 
hut he unquestionably imparted qualities that are 
still to he seen in our present day beagles. Banner- 
man’s sire was Champion Marchboy, considered a 


30 


Beagles and Beagling 


wonderfully prepotent dog and himself a good 
rabbiter, in fact, far above the ordinary. Marchboy 
was by Champion Barrister, a ten inch dog which 
was a remarkable fielder and never beaten on the 
bench. His dam was Primrose, but it is through 
Barrister that Bannerman inherits the tendency to 
reproduce small dogs, for Barrister's sire was none 
other than the redoutable Damper, previously 
referred to as the nine inch dog in the Crane pack. 
Barrister’s dam was Wanderer, also a small bitch 
and Hotspur and Littly, the sire and dam of Prim¬ 
rose were also of this type. Among other dogs 
found in the pedigree of Marchboy are Rachel, 
Matchless, Chancellor, Moorhen, Hopeful, Music, 
Charmer, Bugler, Skylark, Beauty, Priceless, Joyful 
and so on ad finitum. Coming to Bannermair s dam, 
which is Dewdrop, one of the Crane breeding, we 
find that she is by Damper, out of Pleasant, own 
sister to Precious, the bitch which won the Crystal 
Palace Cup and first and cup at Portsmouth. 
Damper sired among others, Pilgrim, Pealer, Har¬ 
mony, Rachel and Giant. The latter was considered 
by “Stonehenge” as the best beagle of his day. 

One of the early patrons of field trials was Daniel 
F. Summers, who bred working beagles in Pennsyl¬ 
vania for a number of years. Nothing was seen of 
Dan Summers at bench shows, or at least not in the 
way of showing, but his dogs made records for 
themselves in the actual competition where the little 
hound should really show, and that is in the field. 
Mr. Summers began running dogs in field trials 
about the year 1896, and was seen regularly for a 


Early History 


31 


dozen or more years, especially at beagle events held 
in Pennsylanvia, Ohio and other surrounding states. 
No one seems to he able to determine just what 
lines of blood constitute the Summers' strain, but 
their influence on the practical beagle has been mar¬ 
velous and continues to this day. 

In Providence, Rhode Island, lives a beagler who 
has been interested in the breed for years. As a 
matter of fact, he has been about the most consistent 
breeder, bench show and field trial patron that is 
to be found in this country. His name is Thos. W. 
Shallcross and he is known to all beaglers on this 
or the other side of the Atlantic. In the early days 
he imported a number of dogs, among others being 
Baronet. This dog has had a certain amount of 
influence on field performers, but it is on the bench 
where most of them have shown. Baronet, how¬ 
ever, was a field trial winner also, and he sired 
some performers. One of his bench winning sons 
was Blitz. 

In about the year 1896, the late Jas. L. Kernochan 
began importing beagles on a large scale and for 
a time it appeared that he would be an important 
figure at field trials and bench shows with the packs 
that he brought over. As a matter of fact, he was, 
but his fancy was but a passing one and before 
long the many dogs that he imported were scattered 
about. However, from these kennels came such 
noted ones as the combination show and field trial 
beagles, Florist, Oronsay, Matron, Leader III and 
Trueman, later owned by the Middlesex Beagles. 
Hector and Flossie went to the Sommersets and 


32 


Beagles and Beagling 


Fiddler to the Round Plains. Then there was 
Fabian, a champion in the field and a sire of good 
ones, whose blood is still very prominent in some 
parts of the East. Florist also ranks very high as 
a sire and the same may be said of Leader III, 
Trueman and Oronsay. These dogs were of the 
typey kind that won on the bench. In the field they 
held their own, not perhaps in competition with 
some of the out-and-out field strains, when we 
consider qualities from every viewpoint, but they 
were dogs of a good combination type, consequently 
they had their vogue and were successful. Harry 
Peters, of Islip, N. Y., was also much interested in 
beagles about the time that Mr. Kernochan was 
showing his packs. Among the many importations 
that he made was the dog Bangle, which became 
quite popular at bench shows. 

A strain of wire-haired beagles was imported into 
this country along about in 1883, and for about 
twenty years thereafter were bred by J. W. Apple- 
ton, of Ipswich, Mass. Breeders did not take readily 
to this strain from which emanated both wire and 
smooth coated dogs, although two good dogs from 
the strain are still well remembered. One of these 
was Sommerset, owned by the Sommerset Beagles, 
which in the early years of the present century were 
quite prominent, and the other was Waldingfield’s 
Orator, which was a smooth-coated dog. Dogs 
from this strain were winners, both on the bench 
and in the field. This strain was known as 
the Pulbro Beagles, and their distinguishing 
quality was their sweet voices. Pulbro Crafty, a 


Early History 


33 


wire-coated dog, much on the type of the Rowett- 
bred Bowman, except for his coat, was reputed to 
be an exceptionally good dog, useful in the field 
and good on the bench. He was not quite such a 
sturdy dog as the Rowett type, but strong in head, 
showing very decided hound character, which should 
have been the best kind of an argument against the 
charge that there was a dash of terrier in his veins. 
Crafty, with the exception of his wire coat, was 
much more of a hound type beagle than many others 
from the smooth-coated strains. 





Hereford’s Halo—A. K. C. 30S673. 


















CHAPTER II 


Later History 

r I ''HE first field trials for beagles in the United 
States took place in 1890. They were held 
at Hyannis, Mass., under the auspices of the 
National Beagle Club, the opening date of the meet¬ 
ing being November 4. There were four starters 
in the all-age stake for dogs fifteen inches and 
under. It should be stated here that in nearly all 
beagle events, especially in the all-age stakes, dogs 
and bitches are divided, separate stakes being pro¬ 
vided for each. The winner of this fifteen inch dog 
stake was none other Frank Forest, the son of Riot 
and Skip, of which I have written in the first 
chapter on early history In this same stake a son of 
Rattler III, called Don, was second ; while Sunday, 
another dog previously referred to as the son of 
Frank Forest and Sue Forest, was third. In the 
class for bitches fifteen inches and under, Tone, a 
daughter of Flue M. and Skip, was first; while 
another of the Frank Forest—Sue Forest litter was 
second. This was Gypsy Forest. Third was 
divided among three: one of them was another 
daughter of Frank Forest, namely, June Rose, out 
of Juno II. The other two were Belle Ross, by 
Ross W., out of Cricket and Mollie, by Cornerve, 
out of Nell. There were eleven starters in this 
stake. In the class for bitches, thirteen inches and 
under, Belle Ross was again first; Bahy Dean, a 
daughter of Fitz-Hugh Lee and Belle Dimon, 

(35) 



Beagles and Beagling 


36 

second; and Banner Queen, by Bannerman, out of 
Queen, third. It is not my intention to give a 
full list of field trial winners as this would simply 
be a record of dry facts, but simply to note the 
progress of field trials and the corresponding in¬ 
crease in interest in the working beagle, for while 
perhaps not even a moiety of beagle fanciers are 
interested directly in either field trials and bench 
shows, most of them look to these events for the 
various blood lines to which they breed and regu¬ 
late their own breeding operations along the lines 
that produce the winning dogs. Thus, field trials 
and also bench shows, in a lesser degree, have been 
essential toward the improvement of the breed. 

The National Beagle Club was the only one which 
held field trials during these early years, or until 
1893, when other clubs began to spring into exist¬ 
ence. The trials of the National Club, of 1891, 
brought out more starters, indicating the increased 
interest. Frank Forest was again well represented 
among the sires of winners, but other dogs were 
also in evidence, as for instance, Iveno, Victor G, 
Lee II, Rip Van Winkle, Rattler, Ross W, Royal 
Krueger, Tony and Mac. In 1892, Frank Forest, Lee, 
Storm, Stormy, Rattler, Jr., Keno, Burke, and Tony 
were the sires of the winners. It was at these trials 
that Clyde, the good son of Frank Forest and Sue 
Forest, came before the public. In 1893, on Octo¬ 
ber 30, the National Club opened its fourth trials 
at Nanuet, N. Y., with Jos. Lewis as the only 
judge. Practically the same sires were represented, 
with the addition of Chapman’s Sam and Tecumseh. 

That same year the Northwestern Beagle Club 


Later History 


37 


held its first trials at Whitewater, Wis., with John 
Davidson as the judge. Here, coming into new 
territory, new sires were represented, in addition 
to several that had shown in the East. Spelo, 
Drummer, Beebe’s Doc, Tony Weller and Little 
Duke were the names of sires that appeared for the 
first time in field trials. A week after the North¬ 
western trials, another new club—The New England 
held its first trials on November 7, at Oxford, Mass. 
Among the new sires were The Rambler which sired 
Lady Novice, the winner of the all-age class for 
bitches under thirteen inches. Frank Forest, 
Fitz-Hugh Lee, Kenneally’s Lee and Keno were 
still holding their own, however, as sires of winners. 
Frank Forest was particularly well represented here. 
I11 1894, the New England Club was the first on 
the program with Frank Forest, Fitz-Hugh Lee, 
Bannerman and Deacon Tidd accounting for the 
principal winners. Although several others were 
represented, as for instance, Chubb, Fifer and Jay. 
In the National which followed, Dave, Little Won¬ 
der, Ned and Roy K were among the new sires. 
It was in these trials that Frank Forest gained his 
field championship, although there was but one 
starter in the stake. In the championship for dogs 
and bitches under thirteen inches, Laddie, by Royal 
Krueger, out of Midge, carried away the honor, 
with three dogs in competition. Following closely 
upon these eastern events came the trials of the 
Northwestern club, with a number of new sires 
showing for the first time; and in 1895, the same 
club opened the season and again many new western 
sires made their appearance, among which were, 


38 


Beagles and Beagling 


Krueger’s Bob, Bounce, Base, Finder II and others 
of lesser importance. It was Royal Dick, however, 
which like Frank Forest, won the championship 
with himself as the only starter. This dog was by 
Royal Krueger, out of Baby W, and was owned 
by (i. A. Buckstaff. That same year, in the New 
England trials, Thos. Shallcross won the fifteen inch 
derby with Baronet, the son of Daunter and Reck¬ 
less, referred to in the first chapter. 

Buckshot was another sire to show here. Spark 
R, by Kenneally's Lee, out of Skip, won the all-age 
under fifteen inches stake; while Lewis, a son of 
Bannerman, a tan and white dog, out of Parthenia, 
was second. 

Thus the years went on, the National holding- 
trials each season, bringing out new dogs as sires 
at every annual meeting. Pottinger Dorsey won 
the all-age stake for fifteen inch dogs in 1896, with 
Pilot, a son of Chimer and Belle; while at these 
same trials, D. F. Summers made his appearance 
for the first time, winning second with a bitch 
called Lucy S, by Frank, out of Jip, and first in 
the fifteen inch Futurity class with Belle S, by 
Clover, out of Lucy S. At the New England trials 
that same year, Ida Novice, by Clyde, the son of 
Frank Forest, won the thirteen inch derby for does 
and bitches. The Central Beagle Club inaugurated 
its trials this year at Waynesburg, Pa. This club 
is composed mostly of beaglers from the western 
part of Pennsylvania and Ohio, and has been one 
of the active clubs ever since its inaugural trials 
in 1896. The Summers dogs again played an active 
part among the winners and this season James 


Later History 


39 


McAleer also began to be heard from. Since that 
time he has been one of the very active participants 
at all of the principal trials. Summers’ Sailor won 
the Futurity stake of the National trials in 1897. 
This dog was a son of Sailor and Summers’ Fly 
and became a very important factor in the breeding 
of working beagles thereafter for he was used by 
practical breeders. 

James McAleer, it may be stated here, secured 
the blood which D. F. Summers brought before the 
public and continued along those lines founding a 
strain called the “Tippecanoe," which became 
famous in field trials and this blood, even at the 
present day, is much sought after by beaglers look¬ 
ing for real working types. 

In 1900, Mr. Wharton took over the Kernochan 
Beagles which, under the name of Hempstead 
Beagles, won considerably at eastern trials and 
bench shows. I have already made note of some 
of the dogs and bitches in this pack, but the two 
most noted stud dogs were imported Bronwydd Boy 
and imported Florist, the latter being the greater 
infiuence upon the field beagles of the East. As they 
were offered at stud at the high fee of $100 each, 
which for a beagle is all out of proportion in com¬ 
parison with other noted dogs of the breed, it may 
be taken for granted that the small breeders found 
it practically impossible to avail themselves of the 
services of these two dogs. 

Among other high priced stud dogs were those 
of the Windholme Beagles, owned by H. L. Peters, 
whose (bench) Champion Windholme’s Robino II 
and (bench) Champion Windholme’s Robino III, 


40 


Beagles and Beagling 


brought fees of $100 and $50, respectively. These 
were patronized mostly by breeders of bench dogs, 
however. 

Field trials began to get more numerous from 
year to year and beagle fanciers did not find it such 
a difficult matter to start dogs in field competition, 
for in nearly every locality a club was eventually 
organized and by the time of the late World War 
the beagle field trial game was at its height. There 
was a temporary slump during the war, but imme¬ 
diately after that the interest in the breed became 
greater than ever. Ohio alone holds three or four 
fall trials each year and the same prevails in prac¬ 
tically all of the eastern and middle states. 

It was in 1899 that the Waldingfield Beagles won 
with Orator, one of the dogs of the wire-haired 
strain, to which reference was made in the previous 
chapter. The sire and dam of Orator were Pulboro 
Crafty and Cinderella. Crafty was not used at stud 
to the extent that his merits warranted, otherwise 
he might have had a number of winners fully as 
good as Orator to his credit. 

No doubt, while the interest in beagles has been 
constantly growing, the greatest activities took place 
from 1919 to 1922, and the season of 1923 is now 
coming on apace as I write. Beaglers have sprung- 
up every where. Many swear by their own strains, 
though they are not averse to trying new blood 
when they are shown that such a new cross will 
be of benefit. 

Looking over the record of 1921 for instance, 
we find something like twenty clubs holding trials 
and while I have not scrutinized the list of winners 


Later History 


41 


carefully, it is quite likely that the season of 19 22 
was larger than that. This is conclusive proof that 
the beagle interest is forever growing, though I am 
firmly convinced that the field trial end of the game 
would advance far more rapidly and with less un¬ 
necessary red tape if the clubs would organize into a 
national association of some kind, independent of 
the ruling of bench show associations and concen¬ 
trate their interests upon the field beagle, with a 
view also of preserving type, by holding bench 
shows in connection with the trial meeting. Shows, 
of course, are being held in connection with field 
trials, but under the present system of restrictions, 
due to being ruled by interests entirely foreign to 
the sport of field trials, they can never become the 
great institution that they are in bird dog circles. 
There should be a national governing body, un¬ 
questionably, but this should be conducted by a 
class of men directly interested in the line of sport 
that is being catered to and not by an office force 
in a large city that is not in the least conversant 
with the practical side of the beagle or bird dog 
interests. 

Looking over the noted dogs that have been an 
influence on the breed since the days of imported 
Minstrel, imported Foreman, Champion Bannerman, 
Lee II, Colonel Lee, and double champion Frank 
Forest, there comes a vast array of names. To 
mention them in detail would be to fill a book in 
itself, but since 1898, for instance, we must not 
forget Champion Dorsey’s Pilot, owned by H. L. 
Krueder, of Nanuet, New York, who also owned 
Frank Forest in later days. Summers’ Sailor is 


42 


Beagles and Beagling 


another dog* very highly valued by the field men, 
though I doubt if any of the breeders for bench 
types ever took advantage of his services. Champion 
Ringleader, owned by Jos. Lewis, then of Modus, 
Connecticut, was a bench show type. The same 
may be said of imported Bronwydd Boy and 
imported Florist, of which mention was made as 
being the two hounds which were offered at stud 
by their owner, J. L. Kernochan at a fee of $100 
each. Robino II and Robino III were bench dogs 
pure and simple. 

During the early years of the present century 
that grand little dog, Hempfield’s Little Dandy, 
owned by J. S. Cusson and R. B. Cole, of De Kalb, 
Illinois, was a very prominent winner and he soon 
became a most marvelous sire of field dogs. His 
services were sought by breeders from everywhere 
and he sired winner after winner and yet his owners 
offered him for the benefit of brother sportsmen 
at the remarkably low fee of $10. In this connec¬ 
tion I might observe that many of the beagle 
fanciers—those who really had the interests of the 
breed at heart—never placed an exorbitant fee 
upon their dogs. Louis Steffen, for instance, located 
in Milwaukee, Wis., who has been one of the most 
consistent of breeders, offered that good dog, 
Colonel Lee, at a $5 stud fee. 

Another hound which proved to be a tremendous 
influence upon the field bred beagle was Young 
Tippecanoe, a contemporary of Hempfield’s Little 
Dandy, owned by James McAleer, of Bellevue, Pa. 
Mr. McAleer still has this blood in his kennels and 
is breeding successfully from it through generation 



Later History 


43 


ciftei geneiation, but as a matter of fact, beaglers 
from all parts of the country value it just as highly. 
Mr. McAleer offered the services of this dog at the 

low fee of fifteen dollars, which made him available 
to all. 

Coming some years later, was Afton’s Uncle Sam, 
a dog which proved to be a consistent winner that 
soon gained championship honors afield. His 
owner was P. A. Peterson, owner of the Afton 
Kennels, and in this prepotent little hound he has 
a marvelous producer. Uncle Sam is probably the 
greatest sire of winners of all time. Like Mr. 
McAleer, Mr. Peterson offered this dog at a fee 
of $15. Red Sox was another McAleer dog; 
coming before the public about the same time as 
Uncle Sam, that is, between the years of 1914 
and 1920. 

Alibi Billy, owned by W. A. Powell, of Taylor- 
ville, Illinois, has of late vears been a most success- 
ful sire. One nick, that with Bright Eyes, proving 
to be particularly productive of good results, but 
Billy was a success with practically every line of 
blood to which he was mated. His fee was also $15. 

Champion Charm ion Ben, owned by the Char- 
mion kennels, of which Fred Horn was the owner, 
and George Flammer, the manager, gained his title 
on the bench and in the field and in this connection 
it might not be out of place to state that this dog 
and Frank Forest are the only two beagles which 
gained double championship honors; that is, in the 
field and on the bench. The Charmion Kennels up 
until quite recently, operated in New Jersey, and 


44 


Beagles and Beagling. 


Ben was used at stud very extensively, becoming a 
very successful sire of field and bench dogs. 

Stoke Place Sapper was a bench show winner, 
but proved to be an excellent sire of field dogs. 
In recent years he was owned by Victor Wiley, of 
Allenville, Ill. Many of his get were seen in field 
trials, but many more are winners on the bench. 

P. M. Chidester, of Pittsburgh, Pa., is a com¬ 
paratively new comer in beagle realms, but he has 
erected kennels and has gathered together some of 
the best dogs of the country. Only a few years 
ago he bought practically all the dogs of the 
Wheatley kennels, which were disbanded at that 
time. One of the dogs he purchased just before 
the kennels were discontinued was Wheatley Truant, 
which was offered at stud at the fee of $30 and 
business flocked his way. As a sire of field per¬ 
formers he has not yet shown results to the extent 
of some of the hounds mentioned, but he surely is 
the kind of a dog to impart type. I saw this dog 
the first time in 1920, when I judged sporting dogs 
at Detroit. The beagles classes were large ones, but 
there was no mistaking the quality of Truant the 
moment one saw him, for there is a wealth of char¬ 
acter about him that is compelling. I gave this dog 
winners and special for best beagle in the show. 
He soon gained championship honors on the bench. 

In bench show realms beagle interests held their 
own during all these years while the merry little 
hound was gaining so rapidly in favor with field 
men and there were and still are a number of ken¬ 
nels, especially in the East, that breed dogs almost 
solely for show purposes. 


Later History 


45 


The Windholme Beagles were successful during 
the early years of the present century, but short¬ 
lived. The Bel rays, coming some years later, were 
also quite a formidable aggregation, not only on the 
bench, but at field trials; and about this same period 
the Wheatleys came to the front and continued 
showing until about 1819 when the manager, 
Arthur Little, was compelled to relinquish his posi¬ 
tion on account of ill-health, after which as I 
previously stated, the dogs were scattered, most of 
them going to P. M. Chidester, of Pittsburgh, 
whose Pencraft Beagles were already gaining a 
reputation. Stoke Place Sapper was one of the 
importations of the Wheatley Kennels, but found 
a new home in Illinois, where he did well. During 
part of the last decade the Mt. Brilliant Beagles, 
owned by Louis Lee Haggin, of Lexington, Ky., 
-were prominent, but Mr. Haggin became interested 
in field trial pointers about this time and abandoned 
beagles after a short period of success. 

Looking- over the lists of kennels showing beagles 
in the East (some of which also ran their dogs n 
field trials), one finds that many of the fanciers who 
took up the breed were only in it as a passing hobby, 
as many of these wealthy young men with nothing 
else on their.hands, frequently take up fads, hence 
with the exception of a very few, little in the way 
of lasting good was accomplished by them in the 
way of breeding. Since the beginning of this 
century more than a dozen well known beagle ken¬ 
nels have been disbanded. Perhaps the fact that 
America entered into the World War has some 
hearing on the case, but I am more inclined to 





46 


Beagles and Beagling 


think that it was a general lack of an abiding love 
for the breed on the part of the fanciers that is 
the real cause. 

Beginning with the Hempstead Beagles, which 
were owned by J. L. Kernochan, one well known 
pack after the other passed out of existence, and 
among these are the Round Plain, the Thornfield, 
the Rockridge, Dungannon, Somerset, Wolver, 
Piedmont, Sir Sister, Belray, Old Westbury, Rag- 
dale, Fairfield, Mt. Brilliant and Windholme. Those 
that are still active in the East are the Waldingfield, 
Vernon Place, White Oak, Reynal, Awixa and 
Fanall Beagles, and it is a pleasure to note that all 
of these take an interest in field trials as well as 
bench shows, which indicates that the beagle, like 
the bird dog is no longer considered only a toy, 
but a real sportsman’s dog. 

This fact comes in evidence also, by reason of the 
many field trial clubs that are being formed and 
the number of sportsmen who are taking up the 
merry little hound; hence, while the loss in one 
direction is a large one, in the other it is a gain 
in still greater proportions. The middle and western 
states are in reality the ones showing the most rapid 
growth. The old Central Beagle club, with head¬ 
quarters at Pittsburgh, has been one of steady 
growth; and then over in Ohio the Buckeye, the 
Northern Ohio, and the Highland Beagle clubs, 
together with several smaller ones, keep the many 
new fanciers of the beagle well occupied. To enu¬ 
merate all the clubs that have sprung up every¬ 
where would require a long list, suffice it to say 
that beagle fanciers need not feel alarmed that 


Later History 


47 


because some of the packs owned by eastern fanciers 
have gone out of existence, the breed is going to 
suffer. On the other hand, it is not this class that 
has done the real breeding, but the smaller men who, 
while not possessing the means that were at the 
command of the large kennels, are in reality doing 
the kind of breeding that brings results. 

Indiana also has a number of good clubs, with 
a membership of real breeders, and the same may 
be said of the Western organization, which is as 
important in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and ad¬ 
joining states, as the National is in the East. As a 
matter of fact, it is from the breeders who are 
members of the Western club that some of the 
greatest activities for the improvement of the breed 
have emanated. Most of these clubs hold bench 
shows at the time of their trials which is a most 
salutary feature, for they give the novice attending 
trials for the first time, not only an idea of a dog’s 
work in the field, but a fair knowledge of the type 
that is demanded to win on the bench and like with 
the bird dogs; the time has evidently come when 
there may be a merging of the two types, thus the 
millenium for the beagle seems to be at hand, for 
practical beagle fanciers, like the bird dog fanciers, 
have come to realize that a working beagle can also 
be a good looking one. 





Litter of Beagle Pups by Tony B. out of Latonia Gyp. 




CHAPTER III 


Suggestion for Beginners—A Rabbit Hunt 

With Beagles 

1 1 A HIS chapter is intended for the beginner; he 
“*■ who feels the love of the chase deep down in 
his consciousness and who enjoys the form of sport 
in which dogs participate. The novice to whom 1 
am addressing these lines has probably been on a 
rabbit hunt or two, has seen dogs work, perhaps, 
though the knowledge thus acquired of the real 
qualities of the different kinds of rabbit dogs may 
be very limited. But his ambition to own real, 
rabbit hounds has been kindled and he has resolved 
to become the owner of one of a pair of dogs. 
Perhaps he may have a friend who is interested in 
rabbit hunting and from him g'ain the rudimentary 
knowledge. As like as not his information may 
come from an interested source and thus his first 
venture in the ownership of dogs may go wrong. 
In this connection a case came to me recently. The 
writer, a lad of about seventeen, wrote as follows: 
“I always like rabbit hunting and last winter I went 
out several times. The man who hunted with me 
had two dogs that he called ‘beadles.’ They were 
black and tan and stood about twenty-six inches 
high. I want to get some good rabbit hounds, but 
I have been told since, that this man with whom 
I hunted had plain ordinary ‘pot licker’ hounds with 
no breeding and that no beagle (I heard the correct 

( 49 ) 




Beagles and Beagling 


50 


name later) ever got to be twenty-six inches tall. 
Will you tell me something about the breed and the 
best kind to get for real rabbit work?” 

The experienced beaglers, those who have been 
breeding or hunting with the little hounds all their 
lives, are advised to pass this, and probably two 
or three other chapters by, for they are designed 
and written for just such young aspirants as the 
writer of the foregoing letter. In the first place, 
to those who would enjoy the best side of beagling 
and obtain to the fullest all the pleasure that is 
to be had out of owning and hunting these little 
hounds, I would say obtain all the knowledge about 
them that you can possibly absorb; written, verbal 
and otherwise. Subscribe to sportsmen’s journals 
catering to this class of out door pastime and buy 
some good books that will enlighten you on the 
standard and show illustrations of various types. 
Go to a few field trials ; it will be time well spent, 
not only in the knowledge that may be gained from 
watching the dogs work, but in the enjoyment that 
will be found in the recreation. "Listen in" when 
you hear the old-timers talk about the various 
strains, their characteristics and what their pedigrees 
represent. Make copious notes of what you see 
and hear. Then go home, read the reports of the 
trials that you saw and compare them with your 
notes. That is the way you may examine yourself 
in order to ascertain whether or not your own 
deductions are correct or false. Note carefully the 
strains of dogs that are winning. Note the sizes, 
whether they are fifteen inch beagles or under thir¬ 
teen inches and do not lose sight of the fact that 


Suggestion for Beginners—A Rabbit Hunt 


51 


no beagle measuring more than fifteen inches at the 
shoulder is recognized. A quarter of an inch over 
this size will throw them out of competition, 
whether it he at field trials or bench shows. 

That brings to mind another little experience that 
came to me at first hand. In this instance, the prin¬ 
cipal in the case was a beagler; that is, he had 
hunted beagles for a number of years and he knew 
rabbit dogs, but it was a matter of indifference to 
him whether his dogs measured fifteen inches or an 
inch or two over the limit. One fine autumn day, 
however, he attended a field trial. He became inter¬ 
ested in the sport and followed every heat closely. 
Before the end of the week he decided that he would 
have a beagle or two to run in field trials, for as 
matters stand at the present time, one need not go 
far to participate in one or more trials every season, 
no matter where one might live, for broadly speak¬ 
ing, we have them at our very doors since the 
oeagle has come into such popularity of late years. 
This man went home and began corresponding with 
beaglers in various parts of the country. Before 
another fortnight elapsed, he had two beagles “fit 
to run in any field trials,” as the seller described 
them, and as the kennel from which he purchased 
was supposedly a reputable one, the deal had been 
quickly closed. 1 saw these two dogs a week or 
ten days after the new purchaser acquired them. 
They were indeed good hunting dogs, but without 
measuring they looked rather large. The new 
owner when asked, said he did not pin the seller 
down to exact measurements, but was told that they 
would run in the stake for “the large dogs.” Lo 



52 


Beagles and Beagling 


and behold, when the new owner went to his first 
trial both of his dogs were measured out! One of 
them stood sixteen inches at the shoulder and the 
other came very near to the seventeen inch mark. 
The previous owner disposed of the two dogs 
because they were too large for field trials and used 
this sharp method of disposing of them to a novice. 
The latter could have gotten his money back, no 
doubt, but since the dogs were both exceptionally 
good in the field he kept them and had many seasons 
of excellent sport hunting rabbits with them. As a 
matter of fact, I hunted over them myself on fre¬ 
quent occasions and never saw a better pair of 
rabbit dogs than these two over size, but typey 
beagles from Pennsylvania. 

When it comes to this question of size, the begin¬ 
ner, who is buying with the view of showing or 
running his dogs, must be very careful, but if he 
is buying for hunting purposes alone, then he need 
not draw the line so closely, for sometimes even a 
sixteen inch, well bred dog, that is a good individual 
in the field is a better one to breed to than a smaller 
individual with less quality, and when such are bred 
to small bitches or those coming from strains known 
to produce small ones, it is as like as not that most, 
if not all of this over-sized dog’s puppies will come 
within the prescribed bounds. 

It should be remembered also, that many a dog 
which goes a trifle below the fifteen inch mark at a 
year or even a vear-and-a-half old, will fill out by 
the time he is three years of age and sometimes 
then measure above the prescribed limit, hence it is 
not always the breeder who is at fault. He may 


Suggestion for Beginners—A Rabbit Hunt 53 

sell puppies at a year old that are from small sires 
and dams and be perfectly honest when he gives 
the buyer the measurements of the dog and those 
of his sire and dam. Some breeders make a prac¬ 
tice of underfeeding their puppies when they come 
from strains known to develop too rapidly, or are 
likely to go oversize occasionally. But this always 
seemed a doubtful mode of procedure to me, when 
it is a plain case of starvation, but food values may 
be studied to good advantage and thus the ration 
may be so arranged that it will impart the nutritive 
qualities that make for wholesome development and 
still not impart to the puppy an unnatural or abnor¬ 
mal growth. 

Tn buying a beagle the beginner should keep in 
mind what he intends to use him for and thus be 
governed in making his selection. If he wishes to 
take up the show game exclusively, then perhaps 
it might be well to confine his investigations to that 
branch, for there is no gainsaying the fact that there 
are some strains—beautiful and typey dogs—that 
are good for nothing else but the show bench, just 
as this same statement applies to setters, pointers 
and Airedales. Only a study of bench show records 
and the frequent attendance at shows will give the 
novice this knowledge at first hand. If he is buying 
for field trials, let him scan the records closely and 
see that he is buying stock from reputable hunting 
and winning strains. 

While gunshyness is not inherited in the real 
sense, still there are many strains of nervous high 
strung beagles in »which this serious fault may be 
developed by the slightest false move, which with 




54 


Beagles and Beagling 


more careful handling might have been obviated 
and the dog made familiar with the gun without 
serious consequences, but here again many, even 
experienced men, are at fault. Introduce the gun 
gradually when training puppies and never fire 
unless the dog’s attention is occupied and when 
he is some distance away. One shot at the wrong- 
moment sometimes will ruin a dog for life. If the 
buyer is selecting a broken dog for gunning pur¬ 
poses he must make certain before deciding on his 
purchase whether or not the animal is gun proof. 
It is quite true many a beagler enjoys the sport of 
rabbit hunting without the gun more than he does 
with it and many a fancier goes out with his pack 
or brace for the pure exhilaration of seeing his dogs 
work and listening to the melodies of their blended 
voices. Once in a while the hounds score a kill, 
but one cotton tail brought to bag by means of the 
clever work of the hounds is worth more to these 
esthetic sportsmen than a score that might he shot 
in front of them. Nevertheless, whether the hunt 
is conducted one way or the other, there is a satis¬ 
faction in knowing that the dogs one owns are fear¬ 
less and that they will stand gun fire if the occa¬ 
sion arises. 

As regards the weight of beagles, this of course 
is correlated with size. Beaglers have always dif¬ 
fered on this point and as far back as the early nine¬ 
ties numerous discussions have been waged through 
the sportsmen's press on this subject in connection 
with size, though after it was once finally determined 
that no regulation beagle could go over fifteen 
inches, that part of the controversy naturally died 


Suggestion for Beginners—A Rabbit Hunt 55 

out. Weight, however, was still a mooted question 
and it will probably ever remain so. 

The sum and substance of the discussions seem 
to lead to the conclusion that dogs thirteen inches 
and under should weigh between fourteen and six¬ 
teen pounds and fifteen inch dogs from seventeen 
to twenty. George F. Reed, a well known New 
England beagler of twenty years ago, advocated 
hounds measuring from fourteen to fourteen and a 
half inches at shoulder and weighing from twenty- 
one to twenty-four pounds. This size and weight, 
he maintained, was the logical one for all-round 
all day hunters. In field trials, where short heats 
are the vogue and speed is the leading element in 
winning stakes, the smaller beagle is probably 
advantageous, but for long heats or for all day 
hunting the larger dog was conceded to be the 
better. F. H. Chapman, another beagler of those 
days, even went so far as to advocate a weight of 
from twenty-two to twenty-seven pounds, for an 
all-round utility beagle. The records of these early 
controversialists show that good work had been 
done by beag'les of twelve pounds, measuring eleven 
inches at shoulder, but such cases seemed to be 
exceptions. In summing up, it might be observed 
that for all-round uses a good big one will always 
prove more satisfactory than a good little one and 
that, I believe, will be borne out by the experience 
of most beagiers. After all is said, however, one 
must look for the dog with the right temperamental 
qualities. A courageous hound, possessing correct 
conformation and the heart, will do more and better 


56 Beagles and Beagling 

work running on three legs than the coward with 
five legs. 

For the beginner, looking for an all-round utility 
dog, I should advocate a hound from fourteen to 
fifteen inches. This kind of a dog will do the work 
in rough country, on good days and bad, and he 
will he able to hunt dav after day, where the hills 
are rough, the cover is heavy and the briars are close. 

Another quality a good beagle should possess, 
and which is frequently overlooked by the beginner, 
is voice. Naturally, many who hunt for the mere 
sake of the game bag do not take these more 
esthetic points into consideration, but the true beagle 
fancier, the one who remains in the game year after 
year soon becomes more choice in his requirements 
in proportion as his love increases for his favorite 
breed of dog. Thus, the beginner, satisfied with 
any kind of a dog that will run rabbits, in time 
seeks for the finer, or as some call them, non-essen¬ 
tial qualities. Personally, I always felt that the 
voice of the hound or the harmony of the pack 
should be the most important feature. All of our 
old writers tell us that the beagle has the sweetest 
tongue of any of the hound family, but of late 
years, we cannot put all of our beagles in that class. 
.Speed has had something to do with loss of voice, 
perhaps, for in the effort to breed sprinters the voice 
has departed with some of the other hound proper¬ 
ties, and how often do we not find an array of 
squealers and screamers at a field trial! A writer 
of some years ago expressed it in proper terms when 
he said: “If Shakespeare had attended a field trial 
and heard a couple of such flyers in full cry, screech- 


Suggestion for Beginners—A Rabbit Hunt 57 


ing like fox terriers after a neighbor's cat, he prob¬ 
ably would not have written of ‘voices matched like 
bells’.” And yet that is the way it should be; the 
voices of a pack of beagles in full cry should be 
as harmonious as a well drilled orchestra. Never¬ 
theless, we do hear melodious voices now and then, 
and it is because we know that they do exist that 
the desire is expressed for more of them. Select 
your beagle for his hunting qualities, but if you want 
real pleasure afield, see that he has a voice that will 
be music among the hills. 

The pair of over-sized beagles that I alluded to 
earlier in this chapter, were fortunately the posses¬ 
sors of exceedingly musical and well matched voices 
and I believe it was mainly because of this that the 
purchaser kept them, despite the fact that they were 
to large for field trial or bench show competition. 
Perhaps I might say overweight also, for the dog, 
whose kennel name was Bill, weighed close to 
twenty-six pounds; while Belle, the bitch, tipped 
the scales at twenty-four. 

How well I recall a frosty morning in October, 
many years ago! In those days the season opened 
earlier than it does now and this new owner of the 
over-sized beagles wanted me to see them in action. 
All was agreed the previous night and just before 
daylight, on a beautiful autumnal day, he came 
after me, stopping at the house with the old sorrel 
mare hitched to a box buggy (there were no auto¬ 
mobiles those days), and the two beagles stowed 
away comfortably on a pallet of straw in the bed 
of the vehicle. It was cool and crisp, but there was 
no frost, and a slight humidity in the atmosphere 


58 


Beagles and Beagling 


betokened a change of weather. However, when 
we arrived at our destination, several miles out of 
the city, the sun arose in a bank of crimson clouds 
and a good day, such as those drowsy, droning 
Indian Summer days are in mid-October, was before 
us in the making. The old farm where we went 
was full of cotton tails and Charlie, the new owner 
of the over-sized beagles, determined to give his 
dogs a thorough trial “under judgment” as he 
laughingly explained. Old man Smith, the owner 
of the farm, came out to meet us as we drove into 
the barn yard. “Put your horse right there in one 
of the empty stalls and then go down to the berry 
patch back by the creek and kill as many as you 
can. There are millions o' rabbits around here and 
I want to get shed of them, ’cause they're eatin' up 
all my young fruit trees.” 

We assured him that we would try to account 
for at least a small fraction of the million, and as 
we were assembling our guns he added : “And when 
you hear the dinner bell, be sure to come up to the 
house and get some warm victuals ; you'll both need 
a good hot dinner after your morning’s work.” 

We thanked him for the invitation and assured 
him that we would not overlook the bell. Down the 
lane we trudged and all this while Charlie kept his 
two dogs at heel, for they were really well broken 
beagles with all the accomplishments in the way of 
training that most bird dogs possess. The berry 
patch was several acres in extent, rising over a 
series of little hills and winding down through nar¬ 
row hollows until the patch came to an abrupt end 
along the edge of a little rock-bound creek. Just 


Suggestion for Beginners—A Rabbit Hunt 59 

to the left was an open woods, with piles of brush 
here and there and a fallen log to vary the scene, 
and add to the picturesqueness of the setting. At 
the farther end of the woods an old worm fence 
zig-zagged down to the creek and crossed it at a 
narrow point, leaving sufficient space for the water 
to run underneath, then it continued on and encircled 
a corn field on the far side. A more perfect setting 
for Molly Cotton-tail could not have been conceived 
and we did not wonder at Farmer Smith’s statement 
that there were “millions of ’em.” 

Charlie clucked to the dogs as we came to the 
edge of the patch and waved his arm in that direc¬ 
tion. “Hunt ’em up!” he said in a low voice and 
both dogs were off. It is not often one finds beagles 
under such good command, but these two gave me 
a good opportunity to note how much can be done 
in the way of educating a rabbit dog in what is 
generally known as “yard breaking,” if one sets out 
to do it. Some beaglers advocate no breaking at 
all, but simply to allow the dogs their natural way, 
but when it comes to a day’s gunning, how much 
more satisfactory it is to hunt with beagles that 
are under good command! 

“We might as well go an’ find some good places 
for stands,” suggested my companion; “those dogs’ll 
do their own starting, we don't have to do it for 
’em.” Both dogs disappeared in the briars by this 
time, but every now and then we had glimpses of 
them as they wound in and out among the vines. 
“Belle’s a better starter than Bill,” continued Charlie, 
“but Bill’s no slouch.” 

Presently we heard a short, sharp yap; one of 


60 


Beagles and Beagling 


uncertainty it seemed, for neither of the dogs was 
inclined to babble without cause. A moment later 
Belle broke out with a series of musical notes, which 
deepened as she became more sure, then suddenly 
it was a jumble of long drawn out musical sound. 

“Hark Bill, hark!” cried Charlie, but there was 
no need of the command, for Bill’s deep, rumbly 
voice soon joined in with that of his mate. Belle’s 
notes were deep, but clear and bell like, a real mezzo 
soprano, while Bill’s voice was baritone, and such 
music, as they drove through the briars! Both of 
us instinctively ran in different directions looking 
for a vantage point; as yet, neither had seen the 
rabbit or the dogs, but Charlie gave me the cue 
about the voices and I had no trouble in distinguish¬ 
ing between them. The dogs drove deeper into the 
briers, their voices sounding through those open 
spaces with a clarity that only such settings can 
supply. Down through the briars they came and 
what a medly of music! Suddenly there was a 
silence. Charlie, on a stump some rods from me, 
cried out: “They lost him!” but he had scarcely 
made the remark when the sonorous voice of Bill 
broke the silence and a moment later Belle harked 
in; again there was sweet music in the air and a 
moment later I saw bunny come out of the briers, 
within twenty feet of me, and go bounding down 
along the edge through the open woods. 

“Why don’t you shoot?” yelled Charlie, but I 
was intent upon watching the race and forgot all 
about the gun. Anyway, I would rather see a good 
race than kill the game in front of the dogs and so 
1 told Charlie, but just as the dogs came speeding 


Suggestion for Beginners—A Rabbit Hunt 61 

out on the hot trail the rabbit made a turn, passed 
Charlie some ten rods farther down and he let go. 
The bunny was tumbled over, the dogs were up 
almost at the same time and the race was over. 

“You had the best chance of your life to kill,” 
said Charlie half apologetically as we stood there, 
while he allowed the dogs to mouth their prey. 

“I know I did, but it was a shame to kill that 
rabbit when it promised to be such a good drive,” 
I replied. “He’s a fine, big one, too; he miglit have 
given us a long run.” 

Charlie, always a gunner, could not see my view¬ 
point ; he believed in bagging the quarry when the 
opportunity offered, and so he placed the rabbit in 
his bag and started the dogs off once more. 

In less than a minute Bill started one along the 
edge of the thicket, but this proved to be a little 
insignificant “twister” that would not run. He 
started down the woods, turned into the briers 
where we could see him squat. Both dogs were 
checked several times and then to get the dogs off, 
Charlie gave him his left barrel as he started out 
of the thicket down toward the creek. 

The next work produced some quick action; both 
dogs started rabbits almost simultaneously. Belle 
brought one down in a furious line drive through 
the woods, where Bunny turned and practically 
double-tracked in front of me; while Bill had one 
going on Charlie’s side. This promised to be two 
races at the same time and we did not want that, 
so both of us killed in short order. 

Once more the dogs were sent on. They went 
down the outer edge of the briar patch this time 


02 Beagles and Beagling 

and came out in the woods, when they began nosing 
about a brush pile within twenty yards of where 
I had taken my stand on a fallen log. Suddenly 
Belle gave one loud screech as a big buck rabbit 
jumped out on the other side of the pile. Bill saw 
him and opened up also, and a sight chase down 
through the wood ensued. What a chattering! 
What a clamor of voices! Belle’s rich notes went 
well with the deep tones of Bill, and down the woods 
they came with Bunny not thirty yards ahead. It 
was too fast for him and he took refuge in another 
brush pile, but here Charlie and I intervened. The 
dogs were becoming too excited. Charlie caught 
and held them, and after a short interval, as Charlie 
kept the dogs away so they could not see what was 
transpiring, I routed Bunny out. When he was well 
on the way, going 1 ipperty-lip down through the 
woods, Charlie put them on the line. Both struck 
simultaneously, and what a drive they gave us! 
On they went, “Vow, yow, yow!” intermingled with 
the sonorous “Oow, oow, oow!” until it seemed that 
the notes fairly tumbled over each other in finding 
expression. Belle had the lead at times, but Bill 
frequently picked the checks, and as they went on 
through the woods, down around the briar patch, 
along the edge of the creek and back again into 
the woods it was give-and-take. Once there was a 
long check, but Belle picked it this time and went 
flying through the timber over toward the snake 
fence. Here both Charlie and I changed our posi¬ 
tions and stood on a fallen log near the fence, down 
by the creek. We had seen much of the rabbit 
during this running, for he seemed to have a world 


Suggestion for Beginners—A Rabbit Hunt 63 

of confidence in himself and was evidently playing 
with the dogs. He came down along the fence line 
and squatted within thirty yards of us while the 
dogs were puzzling over the scent farther over in 
the woods, but he had only a brief respite. Belle 
picked the line and Bill harked in. Down they 
came with a speed that did one's heart good. Bunny 
left his squat and circled back to the briars, but 
still in plain sight of us. Charlie raised his gun and 
was about to shoot, but I knocked his arm down. 
“Let them run it out!” I advised, and the gun was 
lowered. Bunny hopped along leisurely, evidently 
satisfied that he could outwit his pursuers. But the 
dogs were coming fast and as we had both seen 
the rabbit all this while we knew thev were strad- 

j 

dling the line every moment. Bunny heard the dogs 
and perhaps thought better of his first decision, for 
he put on speed and raced down through the woods 
jumping on a log and running the length of this, 
then he squatted in some weeds just beyond. Again 
we had a good view and again Charlie was tempted 
to shoot, but I restrained him. “Let him alone,” 
I cautioned, ‘‘it is not often you see a race like this.” 

Bunny remained in his squat until the dogs came 
to the log and were baffled, but Bill jumped on the 
log and consequently right on the line and again 
they were off. This time Bunny was obliged to run 
for his life and he went flying down through the 
woods, back to the worm fence, along which he ran 
until he came to the creek, where he squatted again, 
but only for a moment, and then he did a trick which 
1 had never seen before and only once since. He 
jumped onto the lower rail of the fence where it 


64 


Beagles and Beagling 


crossed the creek, thus he got over the water and 
into the cornfield beyond. It was while attending 
the Buckeye Beagle trials, in 1921, that a number of 
us saw a similar performance during the running 
of an exciting heat. We often hear the expression, 
‘‘about as much brains as a rabbit,” but if this is 
not exercising extraordinary intelligence, I would 
not know what it might be called. Both dogs came 
down the fence line at a furious gait and when they 
arrived at the fence, down by the water's edge, they 
were both baffled. We waited, for we wished to see 
if they could puzzle it out by themselves. They 
went up and down the fence line. Belle making wide 
circling casts and Bill was doing likewise. They 
were clearly at sea, but they did not give up. Then, 
perhaps it was luck or intuition. Bill jumped the 
creek and began searching on the other side. Sud¬ 
denly he opened with a long, loud bawl. Belle 
almost literally leaped from the top of the hill to 
the other side of the creek in her anxiety to join 
her mate. Bill picked the trail and while this drive 
was not so fast, and little of it was in sight, we 
had the full benefit of the music. Once Belle’s voice 
rose above Bill’s and then the latter took the initia¬ 
tive. O11 several occasions there was silence as the 
dogs came to a check, but we could hear the voices 
as they picked the line and thus we were enabled 
to follow the drive even though we remained on 
our side of the creek. 

“Let’s wait right here," I suggested, and Charlie 
acquiesced, for he knew Bunny would double back 
to almost the same place and perhaps repeat his 
performance of crossing the creek on the fence rail. 


Suggestion for Beginners—A Rabbit Hunt 65 

Our surmises were correct; bunny came out of 
the corn and slipped along the edge of it on the 
farther side of the creek, but whether he saw us or 
decided on another plan I do not know. At all 
events, he went on down the creek bank, squatting 
in grass, for a moment, hut it was a brief moment, 
for the dogs came hounding out in the open and 
the rabbit was obliged to move. Charlie could stand 
it no longer. The rabbit was going down the edge 
of the creek when he let him have a shot and thus 
bowled him over. “I had to do it," he explained, 
apologetically. “The dogs have been running that 
one bunny nearly three quarters of an hour." He 
had not exaggerated in the least, but nevertheless, 
I should have enjoyed seeing a finish race and I 
verilv believe these two little hounds would have 
run this big buck rabbit to a kill. 

We had many more exciting races after that and 
the game hag was filled long before noon, for while 
Charlie is a field shooter, he is not entirely a meat 
hunter. We remained for the “hot victuals" at 
farmer Smith’s and then drove home in the hazy 
sunlight of a beautiful Indian Summer afternoon. 
Charlie's beagles were over size for field trials or 
show purposes; hut he never regretted buying them. 
They were as good as any I have ever seen for 
all-round working dogs. 



The Beagle, Rockywood Trusty—The Real Hound Type 








CHAPTER IV 


Home Training for the Shooting Beagle 

T^ 7 HILE frequent opinions are expressed to the 
* " contrary, the beagle which gives the most 
satisfaction on the hunting field is the one which 
is broken to obey the ordinary commands that any 
well behaved dog, he he pointer, setter, Airedale 
or hound, is expected to understand. The beginner 
may easily teach these accomplishments, if he begins 
properly, and uses judgment and a level head, for 
it is not such a great trick to train your dog, pro¬ 
vided you are temperamentally fitted for it. 

Some are under the impression that no training 
is necessary other than doing the actual work in 
the field, but a beagle should know when to come 
when called, he should remain at heel when told to 
do so, and he should be taught to “stay put” when 
traveling back and forth to the field in a vehicle 
or automobile; provided he is not shut up in his 
crate, and a well trained beagle, one that is made 
the companion of his master, needs no crate to take 
him to and from the hunting grounds, nor even a 
lead to hold him in check. The fact that your beagle 
has been educated in these finer points need not 
deter you from entering him in field trials, assum¬ 
ing he has the other qualities. 

There was a time when we saw little training 
among pointers and setters at field trials, but of late 
years handlers have discovered that they get much 
farther by breaking their dogs; and in thus finishing 

( 67 ) 


Beagles and Beagling 


68 


their education nothing need be taken out of them. 
Mary Montrose, the triple National field trial cham¬ 
pion, was so well broken that her handler needed 
no lead on her to hold her in check before starting- 
in a heat. The same may be said of Comanche Rap 
and Becky Broomhill, the latter at less than five 
years old, a two time winner of the National 
Championship. 

When Jos. Crane starts Comanche Rap he takes 
him out of the vehicle, drops him to the ground, 
mounts his horse and goes to the front, with the 
dog at his heels. Reaching his place of starting, 
Crane sends the dog out in front and stops him. 
When the other dog is ready, Crane simply says 
“allright,” and away the dog goes. Cheslev Harris 
handles Becky Broomhill in like manner. Often I 
have seen him come out in front of the crowd of 
horsemen, Becky remaining at his side until told 
to get out in front; and I have seen her stand out 
before that crowd of riders sometimes five or ten 
minutes, waiting for the other handler to get ready, 
without even making a slight attempt to move, but 
as soon as Harris gave the command, “Get away, 
girl!" she was oft. Ten years ago they called these 
accomplishments overbreaking, and some shook 
their heads dolefully, hinting that it takes something- 
out of the dogs. If it makes triple and double cham¬ 
pionship winners, then it might be well to take 
“something out” of a few more. 

It is the same with a beagle; break him to under¬ 
stand and obey commands and you will have the 
greatest satisfaction out of him. By this, it is not 
meant that he should be broken to leave a hot trail 


Home Training for the Shooting Beagle 69 

when called; as a matter of fact, the beagle that 
did this would have little room in my kennel, nor 
would a setter or pointer gain much praise from 
me if he obeyed the first call and left his point. 
The beagler should never attempt to call his dog 
off a hot trail, but he should break him so that he 
will come to him under other circumstances. For 
instance, it is the close of the day and you wish 
to go home. You call your dog; instead of coming, 
he gives an extra swish of his tail and disappears 
in the woods, not on the trail of a rabbit, but simply 
brushing around indifferent to vour commands. 
You may have ten minutes to catch a train, but 
this lack of obedience may cause you to walk home. 

A good beagle should be under perfect control 
at all times, except when he is on the hot trail of 
game and then he should be left alone, or caught 
up if the drive is too long. He should be a good 
starter, needing little or no help from his master; 
a wide enough caster, thus making the opportunities 
for picking up trails, and he should show intelligence 
in looking for the best country to find game. He 
need not be a quarterer, like the old time pointer 
or setter, but he should understand how to hunt out 
the most likely territory of his own volition, and 
if the dog is made of the right material and has 
not been spoiled in the making, he will be all of 
that. Furthermore, he should be a good, steady 
driver, a stayer and a level-headed dog. If he 
possesses a good voice in addition, then he is prac- 
ticallv a perfect gun dog. Much of this can be taught 
the dog, if he has had the right kind of yard training 
and he comes from stock that is amenable to educa- 


70 


Beagles and Beagling 


tion. In this connection I might observe that there 
are many dogs which never can he trained. Some 
are natural fools, others have no brains and still 
others are inherently lazy and never will take to 
hunting. If the beginner has been so unfortunate 
as to secure one of these varieties as his first venture, 
the best plan is to make awav with him and charge 
it to profit and loss. If, however, he studies the 
various strains and blood lines, he is not so apt to 
go far wrong. Pedigree counts for much in all 
domestic animals, but pedigree alone does not make 
the dog. It is the combination of individuals in 
the ancestry that counts. A pedigree might have 
half a dozen bench and field champions in the tabu¬ 
lation and still the individual it represents can be 
worthless. Rather select a dog from a line of level¬ 
headed working dogs than a combination of cham¬ 
pions with a lot of worthless dogs in the back¬ 
ground. What I mean is this: Many a time an 
owner of an inferior bitch breeds to a champion 
and finds a ready sale for the puppies because of 
this champion, while on the other hand, breeders of 
real field dogs go on breeding from generation to 
generation of real working dogs and the result is 
that the progeny of such strains is practically always 
good. Select a dog with a pedigree, but try to 
find out something about the names that this long- 
sheet of paper contains. 

The age to buy a puppy depends upon the wishes 
of the purchaser. It is interesting to secure a puppy 
of ten or twelve weeks and watch him grow and 
develop, but the novice must take into consideration 
that so young a dog is more susceptible to the usual 


Home Training for the Shooting Beagle 71 

ills of puppyhood than an older one. Real field 
training cannot begin before the puppy is at least 
eight months old, and in many cases a year is better. 
Some beagles develop earlier than that—as early as 
six months—but it should be remembered that it is 
not always the precocious boy that finishes into the 
most brilliant man and the same applies to beagles. 

House Breaking 

In the event that the beginner buys his dog at 
a very young age, he should proceed at once to take 
full charge of him. Let the puppy understand that 
he has a master and one of the first things to do is 
to teach him manners in the house, and also his 
name. While it is not advisable to keep the puppy 
in the house it is always well to have him house- 
broken, for there may be occasions when it is neces¬ 
sary to allow him to spend the night indoors. All 
dogs are cleanly by nature, but when very young 
they should be taught which places must be respected 
more than others. Watch him carefully for a few 
days or a week and at the slightest suspicion, put 
him out of doors. If ever caught in the act (and 
that is the quickest way to break him), scold him 
and put him out. Sometimes it is well to call him 
up to the place where the flagrant act was com¬ 
mitted, scold him roundly, slap him lightly and put 
him out. He will soon learn that the house is a 
place sacred to his master and that any errors com¬ 
mitted there will separate him from him. Watch¬ 
fulness and even temper on the part of the master 
will go far; and right here it might be well to state 
that no one should attempt to train a dog of any 



Beagles and Beagling 


72 

i /V 


kind if he cannot control his temper. Another 
caution that fits well at this juncture is to never use 
a whip either for house, yard or field breaking. The 
beagle is an understanding, but at the same time 
sensitive little animal, and one ill tempered moment 
on the part of the trainer, during which the puppy 
is abused, might spoil him forever. 

Coming at Command 

The best place to teach the puppy his early lessons 
is in a yard or large room, free from objects that 
are likely to distract, and above all, do not have 
other persons or dogs about. Decide upon a name 
for your puppy and every time you call him use 
this name, but never vary it. Most puppies, being 
unused to the rebuffs of the world are entirely with¬ 
out guile and will come to most anyone when their 
attention is attracted. Call the pupil by name and 
when he comes to you, pat him and give him a 
nice choice morsel to eat; then play with him a few 
moments, interlarding the name with your fondling, 
and thus make him feel that he has done a splendid 
thing by coming to you. Naturally, he will asso¬ 
ciate all this with the choice morsel that he receives 
and it will not be many days before he will come 
bounding to you when he hears his name mentioned. 

At this period he may also be taught to lead. 
Put a collar on him the first day and allow it to 
remain, in order to accustom him to such a con¬ 
trivance. The second day attach the lead to the 
collar, do not pull or jerk him violently, but call 
him by name and when he comes give him the 
expected tid-bit. Gradually begin leading him, but 


Home Training for the Shooting Beagle 73 

be cautious. He may buck, jump, or lie down. 
Coaxing and petting are better than violence with 
a beagle. Be patient and take your time. Repeat 
this every day and he will gradually discover that 
no harm is intended and he will learn to enjoy it. 
When he comes to that stage that he knows his 
name and will lead, it is well to take him out (on lead) 
to new and unfamiliar places. Allow him to see 
the sights of city and country and he will become 
accustomed to conditions other than those that sur¬ 
round him in his own home. Thus he will gain 
more confidence in his master, upon whom he begins 
to look as a demi-god, and also in himself. 

“Charge,” “Drop,” or “Down” 

It is not particularly essential to teach a beagle 
to charge or drop, for this is not required in his 
field work, nevertheless it is an accomplishment that 
is worth while, for on many an occasion you may 
wish to take your beagle to the hunting grounds in an 
automobile or buggy and if he can be made to lie 
down and remain “put” it will save considerable 
annoyance at times. Various words are used for 
this command, but whichever one is selected, it 
should be adhered to, for the dog would soon be¬ 
come confused if he were told to “lie down' on 
one occasion, to “charge" on another, or to “drop” 
on still another. A diversity of commands for the 
same action leads to nowhere. One-word commands, 
where possible, are always to be preferred over a 
long rigmarole of chattering such as many novice 
trainers or dog owners are wont to use. A dog's 
understanding of language is simply by association, 


74 


Beagles and Beagling 


all other assertions to the contrary notwithstanding. 
If the word “drop" is selected, call your puppy 
to you in a suitable place, press him down into the 
position you wish him to assume and give the com¬ 
mand, “Drop!" not in a loud, but in a low, firm 
voice. Hold him down in position and keep repeat¬ 
ing the word. Naturally, as soon as you take your 
hands off of him he will get up. You must put him 
in position again and repeat the command. Practice 
this the first day, ten minutes, but increase the time 
as the puppy begins to understand. Eventually he 
will remain where he is put. Always reward him 
with a tid-bit of some kind after the lesson, if he 
does well. When you have him so he will remain 
in position until you want him to rise, call him and 
say “Come," or to “hold up" if you like, but use 
only one form of command. It will be much easier 
to teach him to come than to drop. 

“Heel” 

It is time enough to teach the puppy to remain 
at heel when he is about eight months old, or just 
before his practical field work is begun. This is an 
accomplishment, however, that all beagles should 
be taught. In the previous chapter I mentioned 
“Charlie’s" two well broken beagles, which remained 
at heel until the command was given to go on, and 
it is a most satisfactory situation to have dogs under 
such thorough control. Indeed, two thirds of the 
pleasures afield consists in having well broken dogs, 
whether they be beagles, pointers or setters. 

The first lessons may be given in the yard. Put 
the lead on the puppy and instead of allowing him 


Home Training for the Shooting Beagle 75 

to tug on it and thus forge ahead, bring him back 
of you with a short, firm, but not violent jerk and 
give the command, “Heel!” Do this every time 
he attempts to go ahead, always repeating the same 
word, “Heel!” Sometimes by carrying a small light 
switch and tapping the dog on the nose as the 
command is given, will serve to enforce it much 
more promptly than otherwise, but the teacher must 
he governed in this by the temperament of his pupil 
and he should be very careful for, as I said pre¬ 
viously, the whip should not come into the category 
of implements for training beagles. After he does 
fairly well in the yard, take him out on the streets 
or in the open, always giving the command when 
the slightest attempt is made to forge ahead. Even¬ 
tually the lead may be taken off, but if the pupil 
takes advantage of this freedom, the lead must be 
resorted to once more. Practice and patience will 
bring results, but do not expect too much of your 
pupil in the first few lessons. The temperament 
and individuality of the pupil in this and all other 
lessons must be carefully studied, for no two dogs 
are exactly alike and the wise trainer will always 
bear this in mind. 

To Prevent Gunshyness 

While gunshyness is not of itself hereditary, there 
is a streak of timidity in many strains of beagles 
that would cause members of such strains to become 
grunshy if not carefully handled, for this reason, 
no matter how bold vour puppy may appear to be, 
it is well to proceed cautiously. As a very young 
puppy it is advisable to. acc'ustom him to various 


76 


Beagles and Beagling 


sounds and the time for this is when he is feeding. 
Beating on tin pans, dropping boards flat upon each 
other and various noises of this kind while the pupil's 
attention is engrossed with the meal before him are 
suggested as preliminaries, but while this is being 
done, not the slightest attention must be paid to the 
puppy. If he becomes frightened move farther 
away, but leave him entirely to his own devices. 
When he discovers that these noises have no con¬ 
nection with you he will soon become pacified and 
return to his feed. Later on it is well to introduce 
a cap pistol and as he becomes accustomed to this, 
introduce a revolver with blank cartridges. It is 
not advisable to introduce a shot gun at this stage, 
but once the pupil becomes accustomed to the sound 
of a revolver shot—and he will, if the shooting is 
not done within sight of him or too near where 
he is eating—he is ready for the shot gun which 
may be used in the field, but not until he has taken 
to hunting and will work fairly well. The time to 
shoot is when the dog is driving and intensely 
absorbed in his work. This shooting, however, 
must be done when the dog is some distance away 
ancl the teacher should be out of sight of the dog 
when he fires. The load should be very light at 
first. If he stops work at the sound of the report 
and comes to you, go right along and pay no atten¬ 
tion to him. Eventually he will be hunting again 
and if it should be your good fortune to start 
another rabbit, try it once more, but again take 
pains to be out of sight of the dog. He must not 
know that the shooting has the least connection 
with you. The chances are that if the pupil has 



Home Training for the Shooting Beagle 


v v 

i i 


been accustomed to strange sounds previously, as 
indicated, he will not pay the least attention to the 
report of the gun. Do not attempt to kill a rabbit 
in front of him until you are absolutley sure that 
he has no fear of the gun. When this is certain, 
then the real business of hunting may be taken up 
and it is surprising how soon he will come to enjoy 
the shooting when he learns that this strange weapon 
is something to give him pleasure and not to strike 
terror into his little unsophisticated heart. Good 
judgment, patience and time are the three requisites 
in making a good shooting dog of your beagle. 

Teaching to Whistle or Horn 

This is another accomplishment that should not 
be taught until the pupil is well advanced in his 
field work. 

Right here I wish to digress long enough to say 
that the temperament of the trainer is reflected 
in the dog. In other words, the subconscious 
expression of the trainer's personality is absorbed 
by his pupil. If the former is of an excitable 
nature, he is likely to produce a flighty dog; 
if on the other hand, the trainer is calm and even 
tempered, never allowing himself to become excited, 
the puppy will to a great degree imbibe this charac¬ 
teristic. How often do we not see dogs in the field 
running hither and thither, going all the time but 
bringing no results. If one is a close observer he 
will note that the trainer of the dog is much of 
the same nature. Therefore, cultivate poise and 
never allow your pupil to catch you off guard if 
you wish to be successful. 


78 Beagles and Beagling 

As regards training to horn or whistle it is advis¬ 
able to adopt one or the other and then use a fixed 
method of calling. Jf the horn is used, one long 
blast mav he the call to come in. Naturally, it is 
assumed that the puppy is thoroughly trained to 
come at the call of his name, hence the horn should 
only be introduced after his field work is well 
advanced. Never, under any circumstances, call 
your dog off a trail. Let him finish his work before 
attempting to bring him to you. To attempt to 
call a dog off a trail is simply courting a breach of 
discipline, for no good dog will leave a hot scent 
to come to his master, and it is bad practice to give 
an order and not have it obeyed, for this is simply 
retrograding. However, when the hunt is over and 
the dogs are still ranging about in the coverts and 
are not on trail, then is the time that the order must 
be given and obedience exacted. Call the puppy by 
his name and at the same time give the blast on 
the horn. He will be attracted by the call of his 
name if not by the sound of the horn, but when the 
two are so closely associated he will soon come to 
understand that this sound is intended for him. 
In time it will he unnecessary to use the voice, but 
simply sound the blast that you have adopted and 
it will he obeyed. 

Field Work 

When the puppy is between eight and twelve 
months old, it is time to begin practical work afield. 
Some puppies may he ready to start earlier than 
this, others will not take to hunting until much 
later, but the general average is about as designated. 
Some advocate hunting the puppy with an old 


Home 'framing for the Shooting Beagle 79 

reliable slow dog. It is a good practice when just 
such a dog is available, but as a rule, the beginner 
does not have such a dog at hand, hence he must 
rely entirely upon his own resources and upon the 
intelligence of his dog. 

Here is where the early yard lessons will show 
their value. Keep your puppy at heel until you 
come to the covert which you wish to hunt and 
then send him on, encourage him to quest in the 
likely places and always keep him out in front of 
vou. You may not get him in the least interested 
the first time, or perhaps the second, or the third, 
or the fifth, or the sixth, but as long as you 
can keep him out and working in front of you, 
you are making progress. There are some instances 
where a puppy will not leave your side under any 
circumstances, will take no interest in hunting, or 
will sit down or find a soft bed in the leaves and 
lie down. Such puppies are rare, but they are seen 
once in a while. After taking such a puppy out a 
dozen times and he shows no encouraging symp¬ 
toms, the best thing to do is to get rid of him and 
secure another from a strain that is more likely to 
bring results. Others, after they begin to hunt and 
actually run a trail, will never give tongue. This is 
not such a bad fault and may be corrected by run¬ 
ning them with an old dog that is free with his 
voice. Sometimes also, these mute puppies develop 
good voices of their own volition after they have 
more experience. 

The main issue during these early lessons is to 
create a desire within the puppy to go out and hunt. 
Eventually, the puppy, unless he is one of the hope- 


80 


Beagles and Beagling 


less kind, will strike a trail and probably run it 
a short distance, or perhaps seventy-five or a 
hundred yards. This, at least, is a beginning and 
the trainer should feel satisfied for that day. It is 
not advisable to work the puppy too long. Take him 
home after that first run. He will have the memory 
of it impressed upon him and the next time he is 
likely to do better, for by this time he is becoming 
more and more accustomed to the strange sights 
and sounds in woods and fields. 

Assuming that you have succeeded in getting on 
a trail for the last few times out; continue with 
the work, encourage him to hunt the likely places 
by going in with him and sending him on. Here 
again is where the early lessons will come in good 
stead, for he recognizes you as the master and he 
must do your bidding. Keep him busy; let him 
search everywhere and if possible let him start his 
own game. We will now imagine that he has pro¬ 
gressed along this line, that he has been picking the 
trails and running them short distances. Whenever 
you see him working on what might be a trail go 
to him, encourage him, talk to him and show him 
where to go; sometimes a little help at this stage 
means much; indeed, I have often seen dogs in 
field trials seemingly throw a side glance at their 
handlers as if appealing to them for help and a 
word here and there means much to the young- 
dog. A puppy that has been taught to obey will 
be much more easily sent to the places you desire 
him to go than one with no education at all. When 
at last, you get him on a good, straight trail, drive 
him along as fast as he is able to carry it. You 


Home Training for the Shooting Beagle 81 

need not be alarmed that you cannot keep sight of 
him, for he is not going to out-distance you; on 
the other hand, you will he able to keep right behind 
him, for in (this position you will he more able to 
see the rabbit on ahead, which the dog, being lower 
to the ground will not; and thus he must depend 
upon his nose, which is proper, while you are 
enabled to assist him with your eyes by noting when 
the rabbit makes his flings and turns. You will 
also be there to encourage him on the checks and 
thus keep the dog going while the trail is hot. 
This class of hunting should be continued day after 
day, or as often as you are able to get out with him, 
but remember, the more experience you give your 
puppy the quicker he will learn and the more expert 
he will become. Eventually he will be much surer 
of his trail and he will run it too fast for you to 
keep up, but when that time comes it is no longer 
necessary, only endeavor to be there at the turns and 
checks in order to assist him over these trying times 
—for a puppy. By the time the puppy arrives at 
this stage of his experience he will be developing 
a keen instinct for hunting and it is surprising how 
rapidly he will learn. It is also no longer a task 
for the trainer, but a real pleasure, for your puppy 
is beginning to drive fast and furiously and he is 
apt to run more than one cotton tail to hole. 

At this juncture—that is, when he is fast enough 
to hole them—he must be taught to “mark the 
hole." Some advocate the use of the ferret, but 
that is illegal in so many states, so I shall pass that. 

The trainer can carry with him a light crow bar, 
which may be left in the auto or vehicle until the 





82 


Beagles and Beagling 


necessity for it arises. Bring the puppy up to the 
hole, encourage him to dig and to give tongue, by 
hissing him on. The trainer must himself dig out 
the rabbit, which with the aid of the crow bar is 
not such a difficult task. A few experiences of this 
kind will soon teach the pupil to remain at the hole, 
for he has learned that bunny is here and the master 
will get him out. 

I must reiterate here, however, that it is always 
well to go slowly, but if the method is followed 
as previously indicated, you will soon have a well 
trained beagle for shooting purposes. The things 
to remember are, enforce implicit obedience at all 
times, except when the puppy is on trail. If it 
becomes necessary to stop hunting while he is still 
running a rabbit, the best mode of procedure is to 
endeavor to catch him up, but to call or blow him off, 
is next to impossible if the dog is made of the right 
fibre. At all events it is bad practice to even attempt 
to do so. 



The Beagle, Champion Thorwood Betty 



CHAPTER V 


Concerning Field Trials and Field Trial 

T raining 

TT might be well to state at the opening of this 
chapter that no one can be successful in the train¬ 
ing and handling of beagles unless he is familiar with 
the habits of rabbits. Whether the beginner intends 
to use his dogs for shooting purposes only, or 
whether he is interested in field trials, he cannot 
hope to bring his dog on successfully unless he 
knows something about the game he is hunting. 
There are various ways to learn these rudimentary 
essentials. In the first place, a study of natural 
history books will give him the theoretical knowl¬ 
edge; but this must be supplemented by actual 
experience in the field, and an abundance of it. 
If the beginner can find an old, experienced beagler 
and casts his fortunes with him for a season, he 
will learn much at first hand that will be beneficial 
for himself and for his dogs. 

Field trials for beagles have made marvelous 
strides during the past ten years; consequently, the 
beagler who may take up the breed at first with no 
intention of running dogs, will eventually become 
attracted; for trials may be held in his immediate 
vicinity, and few are the fanciers who would not 
attend a beagle trial, even if it is only curiosity, 
to see how it is done that impels them. After this 
initial experiment, the seed that was sown at the 
time begins to germinate and the chances are by 
another year this novice, who bought his first beagles 

( 84 ) 


C 0)1 corning Field Trials and Training 85 

for the sole purpose of going out and picking a 
rabbit now and then, will become a most enthusiastic 
field trial follower. As a matter of fact, it is this 
sport of field trials that has made the beagle as 
popular as be is today among sportsmen. The case 
is analogous to that of the pointer and the setter. 
Many a man states emphatically that be will have 
nothing to do with field trials, but nevertheless, when 
he buys a beagle he is not averse to proclaiming to 
his friends that his dog is a descendant of such- 
and-such a great winner, and that he has four or 
five or a dozen winners in his pedigree. It is ever 
thus; we hold the winner in veneration, whether 
we admit it or not. 

Another reason why nearly every beagle fancier 
can get into the field trial game is because the 
expense is very slight. Usually the trial takes place 
somewhere near home (there are clubs in every 
state); the cost of entering is nominal; and the 
training of the dogs may be done in the morning 
and evening, after business hours, if the owner hap¬ 
pens to be a professional, business or working man, 
and it is these classses who cater to beagles, for 
they are the busy man’s recreation. Perhaps it may 
be that the owner is unable to train his dogs him¬ 
self, but even in this case the cost of having them 
prepared for the trials is very small as compared 
with that of the pointer or setter. 

There is not so much to handling in field trials 
as the average beginner imagines. Once he attends 
a trial or two he will soon learn the general prin¬ 
ciples and, if he is observant, the finer points will 
also be acquired. 


Beagles and Beagling 


86 


The handler has the privilege of rendernig all the 
assistance possible to his dog when in competition, 
assuming of course that the ethics of the game are 
observed and there is no breach of the running rules. 

Picking a beagle for field trials is not exactly like 
looking over bird clog prospects; and yet one general 
law must be taken into consideration, and that is 
the spirit of competition. No pointer or setter can 
win without the fighting spirit, the desire to outdo 
his competitor, and by the same token this holds 
true of beagles. The beagle that is content to allow 
his brace-mate to do the work and has no initiative 
of his own, will never make a field trial dog. It 
does not follow because a dog is a good field trial 
dog he will not do for shooting. On the other 
hand, the good field trial beagle is always a good 
shooting beagle, though some shooting beagles 
would never make field trial dogs. However, I am 
inclined to believe that the shooting beagle without 
enough initiative would not be considered a good 
one for either purpose. It is true that sometimes 
shooting beagles are good because they have a 
splendid nose, are level headed and given their time, 
can route up more rabbits and bring them to the 
gun because of their very persistence, which still 
would not win because they are too slow, and in 
field trials one must get results rapidly; quicker than 
the other dog, and this is what it requires to win. 
There are some beagles, however, which are too 
fast for their noses and here again is a fault that 
would not be desirable, especially in a shooting 
beagle; although sometimes it is the very speed that 
wins for a beagle in field trials, as he can depend 


Concerning Field Trials and Training 87 

upon his brace-mate to straighten him out on the 
turns, and thus while the other dog does the work 
he shows the speed, and frequently, under some 
judges, he wins, but not under experienced men 
who know the game from every angle. 

I have often written of the bond that should 
exist between trainer and dog. The latter should 
be the subconscious expression of the trainer’s per¬ 
sonality. If the trainer is an energetic, vigorous, 
hustling sort, he will implant these qualities in the 
dog. On the other hand, if he is one of the listless 
don’t - care - if -1 - get - there - today- or - tomorrow kind, 
then his dog will be much on the same pattern and 
neither man nor dog will figuire very prominently 
in the prize money. The principal thing to be 
developed in the beagle,, whether it is for field trials 
or shooting, is the desire to hunt for game. 

Many field trial beaglers handle their puppies, 
which are intended for derby candidates, somewhat 
differently from the shooting beagle. Usually the 
practice in vogue is to turn out these derby pros¬ 
pects in a pack of their own and let them get out 
and develop the desire for hunting without the 
assistance of an old or experienced dog. The idea 
is that they will develop into more independent 
hunters than if they are coached by an old dog. 
The logic is good, for they learn to hustle for them¬ 
selves; they learn to depend upon their nose and are 
not continually watching what the older dog might 
be doing. If the right material is in them they will 
soon develop a fondness for hunting and eventually 
be able to hold a trail with fair success. It is after 
they have come to this point that they may be 


88 


Beagles and Beagling 


hunted, one at a time, with an older dog, but this 
must be a reliable and true dog, with not a great 
degree of speed. The reason why a slow dog is 
preferable should be obvious, for it stands to reason, 
that if a puppy is put down with a fast dog he will 
be obliged to concentrate all his energy and atten¬ 
tion on keeping up with his brace-mate, with 
consequent less attention to the trail; furthermore, 
the puppy is apt to become a babbler, for he will 
cry because he cannot keep up, and eventually this 
superfluous tongueing will become a habit, which 
will be difficult to break up after it once becomes 
fixed. 

After the puppies are so well advanced that they 
will carry a trail independently, and hunt with eager¬ 
ness and judgment when the rabbit is afoot, it is 
well for the trainer to work them with strange dogs 
whenever possible; and, if new grounds can be 
found frequently, all the better, for nothing is so 
efficacious to give a dog confidence as to accustom 
him to hunt anywhere he may be put down. A 
puppy hunted over the same grounds, day in and 
day out, might do very well where he is accustomed 
to running; but were he turned down on a field trial 
ground, for instance, where everything is new, the 
dogs are strange and the crowd behind him a 
novelty, it is as like as not that he would not per¬ 
form up to the form that he showed at home. For 
this reason the handler preparing his dogs for the 
trials would do well to join forces with another 
trainer in some other locality. The two would bene¬ 
fit equally by such an arrangement. They could hunt 
their dogs in braces over strange territory and thus 


Concerning Field Trials and Training Sh 

have a little field trial of their own. It is surprising 
to note what a benefit this is to the puppies. They 
will overcome any tendency to stage fright and will 
soon learn to feel at home in any company. In this 
connection it might be well to observe, also, that 
the puppies should be accustomed to all the various 
conditions that are likely to befall them in going to 
a field trial. For instance, taking* them back and 
forth in wagons or automobiles in their crates, ship¬ 
ping them in baggage cars, even if it is only up and 
down the road for short distances, and also allowing 
them to run in regular heats with an audience behind 
them. There is never any trouble to secure the 
audience, rather, sometimes it is difficult to keep 
spectators away during the early training when the 
lessons should be conducted only in presence of one 
or at most, two trainers. 

By derby dog is meant one that is under two 
years old, or rather, to be more explicit, a dog that 
is whelped on or after the first of January of any 
given year is a derby for the fall of the succeeding 
year. In other words, puppies whelped on or after 
January i, 1923, will derbys in the fall of 1924. 
Naturally the dogs that compete in these stakes, 
say in October are still very young, for not many 
of them are whelped in January or February, as a 
matter of fact, some of them are June or even July 
puppies, consequently they are but little more than a 
year old at the time of the early trials. The duration 
of a field trial heat is supposed to be thirty minutes 
in the first series, hence it will be seen at a glance 
that the young dog must begin doing his best at 
once. The dog that is quick to get down to hunting 


90 


Beagles and Beagling 


promptly, without pottering and frittering away 
time, is the one that will attract attention, for there 
is nothing like first impressions. Those who imagine 
that a dog can be taken out of his kennel, brought 
to the trials and put into competition with equal 
chances against others that have been given these 
preliminary training and precautionary lessons will 
find how greatly they are mistaken; for it often 
occurs that the new puppy, though good on his home 
grounds, will not be over his nervousness, that he 
naturally acquires under these altered conditions, 
perhaps for several days; and, it is not logical to 
expect the best out of him in a public performance 
under such a handicap. 

The budding trainer of field trial beagles will 
learn something at every trial he attends and among 
other things, he will note that speed in a field trial 
beagle is an important factor. He will also learn 
that there is a way for bringing out all of this latent 
speed bv judicious training. As I stated earlier in 
the chapter, the puppy should be worked with a 
dog slower than himself at first. After he has be¬ 
come accustomed to leading this dog, endeavor to 
secure a brace-mate for him that is a little faster. 
Perhaps your brother trainer, with whom you have 
been working out, may be able to assist you. As a 
matter of fact, two owners can have quite a bit of 
satisfaction, along with good results, by working 
out together. When your puppy once gets the habit 
of leading and cutting out the work, he is not going 
to let himself be beaten very easily. Naturally, the 
trainer must guard against making rattle-headed 
racers out of his dogs, by endeavoring to produce 


91 


Concerning Field Trials and Training 

more speed than the clog has other qualities; but 
good judgment here will always play its part. It 
should be borne in mind that judges are always 
taken with the dog that does his work in the speed¬ 
iest and most snappy manner; hence, if two dogs 
are running together that are nearly equal in every¬ 
thing else, it will he the faster 'of the two that will 
prove to be the winner, simply because he picks his 
turns, his checks and his losses more rapidly. The 
dog that is constantly cutting out the work during 
the heat is the one that has the eyes of the judges 
upon him. 

Condition is another most important factor, if 
speed and the best class of work is to be expected 
of a dog. Condition means that the dog must be 
just right in muscle and flesh. The soft clog, carry¬ 
ing an overabundance of adipose tissue, is not the 
kind that can go fast and maintain his pace; nor 
can the underfed animal, that is too weak to go 
the route. 

Feed liberally, giving an abundance of meat 
during the working season. Work your dogs hard, 
but feed them accordingly. The flesh and muscle 
that is put on by good food and exercise are the 
kind that figure in results, and the beginner should 
always bear this in mind. Never starve an overly 
fat dog to bring his weight down. Give him whole¬ 
some, nutritious food of a concentrated variety, and 
not so much in bulk, and keep exercising and hunt¬ 
ing him continuously until you have him hard as 
nails. 

The handler, as I stated before, can be of con¬ 
siderable assistance to his dog without violating any 


Beagles and Beagling 


92 


of the ethics of clean sportsmanship or the rules of 
field trials. For instance, if the dog is doing too 
much pottering in the same place or does not seem 
to take to hunting in the thickets, the handler may 
urge him on, even take several steps in the direction 
he expects his dog to go or lead him into the 
bushes, encouraging him to hunt. It is possible 
that the dog may be confused by the crowd behind 
him and therefore it behooves the handler to get 
him away as rapidly as possible, for these first 
impressions are likely to he lasting ones with the 
judges. It is quite true that overhandling in this 
respect will not be tolerated, nor is it always advis¬ 
able, for the trainer and especially the novice can 
go too far, and thus do his dog actual damage. In 
most cases it is the handler himself who rattles his 
dog, by being too anxious to get results. Let the 
animal range and hunt, do not become over anxious 
about getting game afoot; if your dog remains on 
the course and keeps on hunting, leave him alone. 

Nowadays it seems that it is up to the spectators 
and the judges to start the game; at least this is 
done in a majority of cases, which to my way of 
thinking is all wrong, but custom has given this 
kind of work definite sanction. Assuming that a 
rabbit has been started from its form. The judges 
will order the two opposing handlers to get their 
dogs in hand and hold them up until the game is 
well out of sight, for sight chases never prove much, 
but tend to rattle the dogs. Here is where it is 
well to have your dog under good command and 
the lessons suggested in the previous chapter come 
in good stead. If you can call your dog to von 


Concerning Field Trials and Training 


93 


promptly it will save time, and also prevent making 
a spectacle of vonrself and the dog. The fellow 
who veils and blows and nearly goes into a frenzy 
trying to get his dog to him when ordered held, 
never makes much of an impression; besides his 
antics are apt to rattle the other dog. When 
ordered to release your dog, do not put him down 
directly over the bed that the rabbit has just left. 
Nine times out of ten the scent is much better 
several yards away from the form. That is, after 
the rabbit has really once begun running. Therefore, 
it is best to take the dog up farther ahead and work 
him across the line that the rabbit is supposed to 
have taken. Do all this quietly; it always makes 
a better impression. If the other handler insists 
upon making a noise, let him do so; but by handling 
your dog quietly you are most likely to get quicker 
results. Many is the time that the man doing* the 
most handling in endeavoring to show his dog the 
line is the one who loses out, while the other fellow, 
standing there quietly, allowing his dog to range 
back and forth, is likely to get results; for his dog 
is more apt to strike first. If it does happen that 
the opposing dog picks before yours, get your dog- 
in at once. If he is a good barker he will promptly 
fall in and perhaps if he is the faster of the two he 
will get the real work, even though his competitor 
picked the line. Then handlers should both endeavor 
to keep up as close behind their dogs as possible, 
but not so close as to interfere or crowd them, for 
the rabbit is apt to double back after a short run 
and at this first check both dogs should have free 
play. If handlers, judges and spectators run all 


94 


Beagles and Beagling 


about here they are sure to ruin the scent. Many 
a promising drive has thus come to naught in a 
field trial. It is in reality not the fault of the dogs 
that they are thus checked, hut due to bungling 
handlers and judges, and especially the latter; for 
judges should insist upon giving the dogs absolute 
right of way. The alert handler keeps both eyes 
open all the time for by doing so he can keep toler¬ 
ably good tab on the rabbit, and by watching where 
he goes he is very frequently able to give his dog 
a little help. Even the experienced dog will turn 
a glance toward his master at times and frequently, 
when the latter is alert, he can, by waving a hand 
or taking a step in the direction the rabbit has gone, 
give his dog the cue that will put him right. The 
handler in such contingencies should keep well out 
of the crowd so his dog can see him. These little 
helps to the dog are entirely within bounds, and 
no one can take exception to them. 

The dog must be of the right calibre to win 
field trials, but the handler on more than one occa¬ 
sion can assist him in doing so. by remaining alert 
at all times while the heat is in progress. For in¬ 
stance, should the opposing dog start a rabbit, be 
right there to hark your dog in, for it is possible 
he might not have heard the other dog’s opening 
notes. If your dog is not a good barker or will 
not come readily to your call or horn, go to him 
and bring him over to where the other dog is 
running. 

“Marking the hole” is another important thing 
that is being given due credit at field trials. In the 
preceding chapter I dwelt upon that and how dogs 


Concerning Field Trials and Training 


95 


may be made good markers; but in a field trial it 
is even more important, especially now, since it is 
considered part of the beagle’s work. As a matter 
of fact, why should this not be a point of merit for 
the dog'? The beagle is supposed to drive your 
rabbit, bring around to you, or run him to earth 
or cover. Of what good is lie, if he does not show 
you where he holed him? It may be that some 
judges in past years attached little importance to 
this because they have often been fooled by some 
clever handler, who used a convenient hole in some 
good cover as an alibi for a loss. 

Running pack stakes is where the handler must 
be constantly on the alert also. He must keep his 
dogs together as much as possible and not allow 
them to range hither and thither, ad libitum. If 
they are widely scattered he will have still more 
trouble in getting them together when the game 
is up. Training here again plays its part and the 
horn may be used to good advantage with a pack. 
The stragglers should be gone after and kept up, 
and if one dog gets away and is inclined to hunt 
where he pleases, he should be prompty brought up 
with the pack. The idea of pack work is that all 
the dogs should hunt together. It must be team 
work, and this is best accomplished by giving your 
packs an abundance of work daily, long before 
the trials. 

The handler will soon pick up many other points 
after attending a few field trials that will be of 
importance to him; but he should always keep in 
mind that the head piece and brain work of both 
man and dog, go hand in hand. 







—— 


»«****« 


■MM 

«:; ; :||lilip| 


MIMll ll Mill 


The Beagle, Hempfield’s Pathfinder 












CHAPTER VI 

Selection and Breeding 

'T'O be a successful breeder of domestic animals, 
whether the species he dogs or some other 
variety, it is necessary to know something about the 
characteristics of the breed. The more knowledge 
one has of the ancestry of the particular individuals 
he possesses, the more likely he is to breed intelli¬ 
gently. 

Heredity, atavism and evolution, together with 
their various ramifications, are the great forces in 
breeding and the novice must have due regard for 
these laws. If he is well acquainted with the 
ancestors of the dogs which he intends to mate, he 
will know, to a certain extent what to look for and 
expect; although nature plays tricks sometimes that 
seem unexplainable. 

In the first place, he should select dogs of un¬ 
questioned pedigree; not hearsay pedigree, but 
authentic breeding which has been verified; and if 
he knows the individuals in this paper which repre¬ 
sents his dog’s breeding, he will be better fortified 
than if he builds upon a foundation of guess-work. 

If he is breeding for practical field beagles he 
should select his sire as well as his dams from dogs 
descended from generations of field beagles. And 
the more well broken dogs, capable of performing 
well in the field that are represented in his blood 
lines, the more likely he is to secure puppies that 
will also train on while still very young. 

( 97 ) 


98 


Beagles and Beagling 


While in the strictest sense acquired characters 
are not transmitted, still in a reflex way this is the 
case. By breeding from generations of broken dogs 
it is more likely that the progeny will be working- 
dogs, than hv breeding from sires and dams sprung 
from generations of bench dogs. The progeny of 
the latter are less susceptible to training than the 
progeny of the field workers; for the latter inherit 
from ancestors who acquired their accomplishments, 
it is true; which is an expression of their intelli¬ 
gence, and in later generations this intelligence is 
handed down as an instinct, but it has its origin 
in the acquired characters of the ancestors. 

This thesis is easily illustrated in the case with 
the pointer and the setter, particularly the latter. 
The setter is descended from the spaniel, a breed 
which in its earliest days was not taught to “set" 
its game. As the years went on and the scatter 
gun came into vogue the art of wing shooting was 
established; hence, the necessity for dogs that set 
or pointed their game. Thus, began the idea of 
teaching spaniels this accomplishment. As the years 
went on, the best of these setting spaniels were bred 
together and the setter was evolved. Generations 
of breeding evolved what was originally an expres¬ 
sion of intelligence into an instinct from the acquired 
character, or trait of setting or pointing; and by 
constant breeding together of these setting or 
pointing dogs, a character which was at first taught 
through the animal’s intelligence and susceptibility 
to training, has become an hereditary instinct, for 
we find our setters and pointers of today a race of 
dogs that point naturally, because the character has 


Selection and Breeding 


99 


been handed down through generations of ancestors 
that have done the same. 

It is practically the same with the hound family. 
This type of dog, from his earliest days, has been 
taught to recognize and trail certain scents and by 
continuous breeding to develop this particular trait, 
all of our different varieties of hounds are descended. 
The foxhound for generations was taught to recog¬ 
nize only the scent of the fox and thus to this day, 
dogs descended from real working strains take to 
the work naturally. The coonhound, although an 
offshoot from what were known as American 
hounds originally, was taught to hunt and tree the 
‘Varmints’’ of the woods and most of them take to 
it with little training. The beagle, which is a minia¬ 
ture hound, was taught to follow the rabbit or hare 
exclusively, and having specialized in this particular 
work for generations, he is today a natural rabbit 
hunter. Reasoning along these lines, it is easy to 
understand why the beagles descended from the 
strains of working stock in unbroken lines are more 
likely to reproduce themselves than such strains 
which for generations have lived in a kennel and 
have only the experience of the show ring behind 
them. Such strains, although originally descended 
from stock which was used in the field regularly, 
are not as likely to transmit practical qualities for 
the very reason that such characters have become 
latent from disuse and therefore progeny descended 
from them do not respond so readily. 

The breeder, therefore, is urged to select his stock 
according to the uses he wishes to make of it. If he 
is breeding solely for bench show specimens, then 


100 


Beagles and Beagling 


it is as well that he confines himself to bench show 
strains; if, on the other hand, he wishes to develop 
a race of working beagles, for best results he must 
look to those families that are noted for such quali¬ 
ties, to produce them. However, there are numerous 
typical working strains of beagles and the beginner 
need not fear that he must sacrifice type in order 
to maintain the useful qualities. 

In the breeding of all domestic animals one must 
also have due regard for the weaknesses that may 
he prevalent in the various strains, whether they are 
latent or active. In beagles one finds such weaknesses 
as frequently as in other varieties. For instance, if 
it is discovered that descendents from certain fami¬ 
lies are nervous, rattle-headed and inclined to gun- 
shyness. The latter character may not he trans¬ 
mitted directly, but the predisposition to it is trans¬ 
mitted, hence the breeder must act accordingly, by 
selecting the parentage from such stock which is 
free from this taint. Constitutional disease is 
another character that is easily intensified. For 
instance, I have seen certain families of dogs where 
eczema and other skin diseases were almost incur¬ 
able. This is due to inheritance and the only wav 
to eradicate it in the progeny is to breed to another 
line of blood that shows nothing of this weakness. 

Cross breeding, line breeding and in-breeding are 
three other phases of beagle culture that should be 
given consideration. Cross breeding means the 
mating of strains that are directly opposed to each 
other, even though they may be of the same variety. 
For example, one crossed a strain of beagles that 
had no show qualities whatever, but were noted for 


Selection and Breeding 


101 


their qualities afield, with a family whose sole claim 
to merit lay in their good looks, but were worthless 
as far as field dogs are concerned. Violent crosses 
of this kind bring out remarkable results sometimes, 
but again undesirable characters are introduced that 
will require generations to eradicate. 

Line breeding is the mating of individuals from 
the same family; as for instance, uncles to nieces, 
cousins to cousins, aunts to nephews. Inbreeding is 
the breeding of animals hearing a closer relation¬ 
ship, and when brothers and sisters are interbred 
it is usually known as in-and-in breeding. 

To successfully produce stock within such con¬ 
fined lines the breeder must be a very careful student. 
This close breeding means the intensification of all 
characters. If certain qualities are in evidence in 
a family that one wishes to perpetuate, there is no 
quicker way than to breed within the lines of the 
family. Furthermore, there is no more rapid method 
for fixing type than by this close breeding. On the 
other hand, if weaknesses and undesirable charac¬ 
ters exist it must he borne in mind that these will 
be intensified in the same ratio as the good qualities, 
consequently the breeder must be absolutely sure of 
his individuals and also know the ancestry back for 
six or seven generations. In dog breeding it has 
been known that certain undesirable characters 
existing far back in the family tree cropped out in 
the seventh generation. Thus it might be well to 
reiterate, if there are constitutional weaknesses, 
there is no surer way to intensify the trouble than 
by close breeding. However, when all is said, line 
and in-breeding have done much for the beagle, but 


102 


Beagles and Beagling 


those who resorted to the practice knew the material 
with which they were working. Contrariwise, 
many a novice lias created havoc by mating closely 
bred individuals of which he knew nothing. 

Selecting the Dam 

Assuming, however, that the breeder or the pros¬ 
pective fancier has paid due regard to these briefly 
outlined principles of breeding. His selection for 
a brood matron should he one in perfect health. 
She should be well made, and at least a fair average 
as to type, and she should be temperamentally as 
well as physically right. Months before she is bred, 
her new owner should prepare for this event that is 
about to be. He should feed her well (and do not 
forget that a goodly portion of meat should be 
part of the ration), and he must exercise here regu¬ 
larly. Grooming is another thing that helps won¬ 
derfully, not only in keeping the coat in good con¬ 
dition, but the muscles remain pliable and the blood 
circulation is maintained. Many dog owners over¬ 
look this little attention as of no importance, but 
that is a mistake. W ho would keep a blooded horse 
and not have him groomed daily? Just so with the 
blooded dog. Groom them daily, exercise them 
regularly, give them the proper food, an abundance 
of pure, fresh water, and disease as well as all 
other complications will be reduced to a minimum. 

Before breeding it is also advisable to treat the 
prospective mother for worms. All dogs are afflicted 
with these pests more or less, and while whelps do 
not inherit them directly, it is as well, and in fact 
necessary, that there be no handicaps in the way 


Selection and Breeding 


103 


that are likely to undermine the vitality and normal 
constitution of the dam, for she needs all her forces 
for the maintenance of the unborn young. There 
are numerous vermifuges on the market that are 
safe and sure, which may be used for the purpose. 
Personally, I always preferred to give this treat¬ 
ment just before the matron is bred, rather than 
after she is once in whelp, although no material 
harm is likely to be done if treatment is given during 
the early weeks of pregnancy. 

Furthermore, the surroundings should be con¬ 
genial. She should have a good kennel, either out 
doors or in a barn, where her bed is clean and dry 
at all times, and she must have an exercising yard 
to which she should have unobstructed access at 
all times during the day and night. 

The first period of oestrum or season may appear 
at any time between the ages of seven and fifteen 
months, but the average is between nine and twelve 
months. Some breeders of beagles mate their young 
bitches at the first season and obtain good results 
in the way of strong, healthy litters, but the most 
logical period to breed is after the bitch is well 
matured, and this is not generally the case at the 
first season ; consequently, it is as well to pass this 
first period of oestrum and wait for the second. 
The bitch will not only be better fitted physically, 
but being older, it may be assumed that she has 
more experience afield and is therefore well on the 
way toward being a broken field performer. As 
stated in the earlier part of this chapter, I am a 
believer in breeding from broken stock. At eighteen 
to twenty months old the bitch has had a full 


104 - 


Bcaglcs and Beagling 


season’s work, consequently she is better prepared 
to assume the burdens of motherhood and bring 
much more satisfactory results. 

The first indication that the period of oestrum 
or season is at hand will he noticed by the close 
observer in the changed temperamental characteris¬ 
tics of the bitch. The timid ones become bold, very 
often irritable; the bold ones sometimes become 
timid and nervous. It is the external changes that 
must be carefully noted at this time however. The 
genitals will become swollen and as soon as this 
becomes apparent she should he isolated from her 
companions in a room that is positively inaccessible 
to males. Far the better plan is to have a room 
on an upper floor in a barn, which should be venti¬ 
lated by well barred windows, high enough from 
the floor so that there he no drafts. If she is taken 
out during this period it must he under constant 
surveillance and the better plan is to keep the bitch 
on lead. It is surprising how readily the dogs of 
a neighborhood detect the presence of a bitch in 
season in a locality, hence it becomes manifest why 
the room on an upper floor is desirable, for dogs 
will dig under the floor of a lower room and bitches 
will themselves find a way to dig out of what may, 
to all appearances, be an impregnable enclosure. 
In a day or two after the swelling is first noticed, 
a whitish discharge will become evident, and this in 
another forty-eight hours or less changes to a pale 
pink, increasing in quantity and color until it is a 
discharge of pure blood. The entire period of 
oestrum extends over twenty-one days; some times 
less and occasionally more, hut three weeks is the 


Selection and Breeding 


105 


average time. During the second week the dis¬ 
charge begins to grow less and the swelling subsides 
somewhat. This is usually about the fourteenth 
or fifteenth day and this is considered the best time 
for the mating with the dog. As a rule she will 
accept him voluntarily, although it is not unusual 
for her to do this before this time or even a week 
after, or as late as the twenty-first day, hence it 
becomes obvious that she must be kept confined 
during the full period. Some breeders are of the 
opinion that sex in the puppies may be controlled 
according to the time when the mating is consum¬ 
mated, their theory being that if the bitch is bred 
early in the season, she will be prone to have more 
females; while if bred late in the season, the males 
will predominate. This, however, is a theory that 
has never been proved by indisputable data. When 
it is possible, it is best to allow the bitch to select 
her own time for service; hence, it is well for the 
owner of the bitch to send her to the owner of the 
stud dog in ample time and if the stud dog owner 
takes a real interest, he will use his discretion in 
the matter. Sometimes it happens, and especially 
with maiden bitches, that they will not take the 
dog voluntarily at any time, in which event they 
must be held and forced. Such forced services are 
usually as productive as the voluntary ones if the 
copulation occurs at the proper time. It is also 
possible that some bitches cannot mate with the dog- 
under any circumstances, due to some functional 
disarrangement on the part of the bitch. Frequently 
the use of the dilator is necessary, but unless the 
breeder is experienced in such matters, it is well 


Beagles and Beagling 


106 

to call in a man who is qualified in canine practice 
to take charge of the situation. 

As to number of services, this has always been 
a mooted question. Some breeders prefer two or 
even three, with intervals of one day between each, 
but from personal observations and from the experi¬ 
ences of many others who have given the matter 
attention, I believe that one service at the right 
time is as productive of results as more; indeed, 
sometimes the outcome is even more satisfactory. 
Most owners of stud dogs that are in great demand 
positively refuse to give more than one service and 
from the records I have before me, I find that the 
one service plan has in all cases shown just as large 
litters and the average of misses is not in the least 
larger, than when the two and three service plan 
is adhered to. 

A normal bitch is supposed to come in season 
once every six months. This time varies in indi¬ 
viduals however, and sometimes one finds them 
coming in every four months; or occasionally they 
are very irregular, ranging from four to eight 
months, but the average is twice a year. The fre¬ 
quency that a bitch should he bred depends entirely 
upon the individual. Many strong, healthy bitches 
have been bred at every season for two or three 
years, and raised large, strong, healthy litters; but 
it does not follow, because they show no apparent 
decline, that this constant sapping of their vitality 
will not prove baneful in the end. Usually such 
bitches age very early in life and in many instances 
their breeding days are over when, as a matter of 
fact, they should be in their prime. Some bitches 


Selection and Breeding 


107 


are so weakened that they become thin and out of 
condition in general. Naturally in such cases the 
owner soon learns for himself that the bitch should 
have a period of rest occasionally. The general 
opinion is that if a bitch raises one strong healthy 
litter a year this is all that should be expected of 
her, and in this 1 heartily concur. 

Selecting the Stud Dog 

If the owner of the matron is not also the owner 
of a stud dog he should cast about for a suitable 
mate for his bitch long enough ahead, so as to have 
all arrangements made before she has come to her 
period of oestrum. In this connection it might be 
observed that even though the owner may have a 
dog of good breeding, if he is not suited to the 
particular bitch which he intends to breed, he should 
not hesitate to go elsewhere to find one that is. 
Economy in saving stud fees is frequently not 
economy after all and the wise breeder realizes this. 

In the selection of the stud dog, the breeder or 
owner of the bitch must he governed by the good 
points and the weak ones that exist in her. In the 
first place, pedigree should be given careful con¬ 
sideration, in order to ascertain whether or not such 
a particular combination is advisable from the view 
point of fusing the two lines of blood. This alone, 
however, is not an absolute guarantee of a sucess- 
ful union. The individual must be taken into con¬ 
sideration. Type, naturally, should be some influ¬ 
ence. If the bitch is weak in muzzle, not correct 
in couplings or bad in front, the idea should be to 
select a dog that is good in these parts and at the 


108 


Beagles and Beagling 


same time, ascertain whether or not these strong 
points are characteristic of the strain. Field quali¬ 
ties are of still greater importance. If the bitch is 
slow but sure of nose, it is well to select a dog that 
is fast, even though there may be a slight deficiency 
in nose. Voice is another thing that figures promi¬ 
nently in breeding beagles. If the bitch is deficient 
in this respect it would be foolhardy to breed to a 
screechy-voiced dog, unless there were other qualities 
that overshadowed this question of voice; but a 
deep-toned mouth is always desirable, and if it can 
be obtained without sacrificing other assentials, it 
is certainly worth while to give this some attention. 
As a matter of fact, for a hunting beagle, I would 
personally be willing to sacrifice some other points 
if in doing so there was a possibility of obtaining 
voice, nose and level-headedness. 

It is scarcely necessary to say that a dog selected 
for breeding should be free from constitutional 
weaknesses, especially if the blood lines are very 
similar to those of the bitch. He should be a strong, 
healthy, vigorous dog; with abundant experience 
in the field, and he should be of the proper height, 
in order not to take any chances of breeding over¬ 
size specimens. 

Another thing that it might be well to be sure 
about is whether or not the dog is being over¬ 
studded. Some dogs obtain such a vogue that the 
drain upon them is so great that their litters are 
likely to be very small or to consist of undersized 
puppies. On the other hand, they are prone to 
miss frequently. While sometimes it is highly 
desirable to select such a dog, because of certain 


Selection and Breeding 


109 


blood lines or qualities he may possess, it is best 
to make sure that at the time the hitch is sent, he 
is not to he overburdened by an excess of stud work. 

1 his, as a rule, does not happen with many beagles, 
but 1 have known of more than one case where 
setters and pointers had as high as six and seven 
bitches waiting for them, all in the kennel of the 
stud dog* owner at the same time. 

The owner of a popular stud dog should take 
exceedingly good care that his dog is not over¬ 
studded. He might do a lucrative business for a 
season, but in the end it is better to be more dis¬ 
criminate in the acceptance of bitches and allow 
fewer services rather than to have the dog over¬ 
taxed and incapacitated in a brief time. A stud 
dog, which is properly cared for, should be able to 
sire puppies at twelve years old; though of course, 
at that age, it stands to reason the demand upon 
him must only be made occasionally. Mohawk II, 
the well known champion field trial setter, sired 
puppies at the age of thirteen. 

The care of a stud dog is also of paramount 
importance. He should be given exercise of a mild 
nature, and this should be along the lines of his 
natural inclinations; that is, work afield. However, 
this should not be of such a strenuous nature or 
of such frequent occurrence that it usurps all of his 
energy. Short runs afield several times a week are 
sufficient during periods when the dog is being used 
regularly at stud, ancl should the demand upon him 
be very great, then even this form of exercise should 
be abandoned for the time being. This statement 
mav be at variance with the views of many stud 


110 


Beagles and Beagling 


dog owners, but I make the assertion on the strength 
of observation in connection with field trial pointers 
or setters. As a matter of fact, I am willing to go 
on record with the statement that heavily studded 
(logs will have less misses during a busy season if 
they are given no field work at all, but simply 
allowed the run of their yards as the only form 
of exercise. 

It is quite logical that the stud dog must be kept 
on good, wholesome rations during the season. His 
food should consist of at least two-thirds meat, and 
the other third may be portioned so as to give the 
ration a certain amount of bulk, consisting of dry 
bread, vegetables or dog biscuits. Raw meat pre¬ 
ferably, lean beef, should be fed several times a 
week and strong broths occasionally, are also whole¬ 
some. When it becomes apparent that the drain 
upon the dog is too great, stimulants in the way 
of raw eggs, phosphates with iron, cod liver oil, etc., 
should be given; but perhaps when the dog comes 
to such a stage he would better be given a period 
of rest. 

It is scarcely necessary to sav that the dog con¬ 
stantly receiving bitches from all parts of the coun¬ 
try is exposed to various contagious diseases ; hence, 
the owner must he on his guard and not allow such 
services where there is the slightest danger. One 
of the dread diseases among pointers at the present 
time is a kind of venereal disease, analogous to 
syphillis in the human race. It is one of the most 
insidious diseases of all; because, unless an examina¬ 
tion of the bitch is made by a qualified veterinarian, 
it cannot he detected, but during the years from 


Selection and Breeding 111 

1920 to 1923 numerous well known animals among 
bird dogs have suffered from it and it created untold 
havoc before it was discovered that such a disease 
actually existed. The disease is communicable only 
through copulation and it is not incurable in the 
dog, provided it is discovered in the early stages. 
In bitches it is more difficult to combat, though 
cures through operations have been reported. So 
far, I have never heard of it among beagles and 
it is to be hoped that it may never appear. 

As regard the age a dog may be placed in stud, 
much depends upon the breed and the individual. 
In medium sized dogs service is successful at a year 
old and I have known of some cases much younger 
than that. One particular instance comes to mind 
of a toy spaniel which at seven months old success¬ 
fully served a matron, which resulted in an unusually 
large litter for that breed. 

At all events, it is not advisable to stud a dog 
under eighteen months old ; even in beagles, and if 
he is two or two and a-half years of age all the 
better. 



The Beagle, Champion Granger’s Daintiness 







CHAPTER VII 


Care of the Matron—Rearing the Puppies 



HE period of gestation in the canine species is 


from sixty-three to sixty-four days, or in round 
numbers, nine weeks from the day she is bred until 
the day that she whelps. Occasionally it happens 
that the period is only fifty-eight days and again 
they go over time to sixtv-eight days, without bad 
effect; but should the time extend beyond that, then 
complications may be expected and an examination 
had better be made. Puppies whelped before the 
fiftieth day will not live, and the chances are against 
them even at fifty-one or fifty-two days. 

During this period, when the prospective mother 
is carrying her young, she should have more atten¬ 
tion than at other times; but it must not he sup¬ 
posed that constant interference with her is neces- 
sary. Eeed her well and let her alone, except that 
she should be washed several times during the early 
part of the pregnancy, and if she lias not been given 
a vermifuge before she was bred, it is well to do so, 
but not after the beginning of the fourth week. 
As a matter of fact, I prefer giving the vermifuge 
before the breeding rather than after. She should 
be fed more liberally from the beginning. Meat, 
broths, stale bread, over which broth or milk may 
be poured, occasionally raw lean beef or mutton, 
large bones to gnaw upon; and the meals may be 
given more frequently. That is, during this period, 
and especially toward the latter part, it is well to 
feed three times a day in smaller quantities rather 


( 113 ) 


114 


Beagles and Beagling 


than the usual one large evening meal. The reason 
is obvious, for it is unwise to give such a large 
ration as to distend her stomach and increase the 
prospective mother’s discomfort. Exercise during 
the first four weeks may be about the same as when 
she is in normal condition, unless you know her 
to be given to aborting; then, naturally, her activi¬ 
ties should he restricted. After the beginning of 
the fifth week it is well to omit violent exercise, 
but allow her to take all she pleases in the kennel 
yard; provided there are no benches or high places 
from which she might jump on and off. Idle begin¬ 
ner, upon superficial examination might not be able 
to determine whether the bitch is in whelp or not 
before external signs make this obvious, but by 
placing the hand on her abdomen and pressing 
upward it will be noticed at the end of the fourth 
week, if she is in whelp, that she sags down imme¬ 
diately upon release of the hands. At five weeks 
the distended sides begin to show and at the end 
of the sixth week, her altered form in general will 
become quite noticeable. 

It is from this time on that she must be watched 
more carefully. While it is not necessary to isolate 
her from all her companions (if there are any) ; 
it is as well not to allow her to romp with larger 
or older dogs, as sometimes an accident may occur 
by one of the dogs colliding with her. About the 
seventh week put her in the place where you expect 
her to whelp. That is, if you have a separate whelp¬ 
ing kennel or yard prepared for her; and it is always 
well that this be done sometime in advance, in 


Care of the Matron—Rearing the Puppies 115 

order to allow her to become accustomed to her new 
surroundings. Sometimes, however, the most care¬ 
fully prepared place will not suit her and if she has 
the freedom of the premises she may select a place 
under the barn or the porch, or some other secluded 
corner. This being the case, and it is in mild 
weather, it is as well to let her alone; as she will he 
much better satisfied than with human interference. 
This is resorting to the nature method, it is true, 
but when conditions in the way of weather and 
otherwise are right, sometimes nature is a far 
better guide than all the science that man can devise. 
If the place for her “maternity ward” has been 
selected by her master this should be so situated 
as to be away from other dog's and disturbances. 
A darkned room or corner in a barn, in a box stall 
or in an outbuilding, are all quite satisfactory. 
A kennel compartment, when regular kennels are 
maintained, is also a good place ; hut this should be 
out of the glaring light. The usual sleeping benches 
should be removed, and a flat platform flush up 
against the wall and not more than inch or two 
above the door should be installed. Some insist 
that a piece of carpet should be tacked over this in 
order to give the mother something to get her claws 
into during her hour of travail; but this is not 
always the most satisfactory method, for the cover¬ 
ing is likely to become torn before her time and 
the puppies are liable to be caught among the shreds 
and thus become strangled; or, the mother is as 
likely as not to lie on them before the puppies are 
able to extricate themselves. A wooden strip about 


Beagles and Beagling 


116 

two inches above the platform securely nailed along* 
the edge, extending down to the floor so that the 
young cannot roll underneath ; and a heap of straw 
on the platform is about as nearly as one can come 
to nature, and generally proves satisfactory and 
warm enough except in very cold weather. Natur¬ 
ally in winter time, the prospective mother should 
be in a place where artificial heat may be provided, 
if necessary; for the temperature in the whelping 
room should never be under sixtv-five degrees 
Fahrenheit. In winter, if there is no other way of 
providing a warm room in the kennel, a temporary 
place in the basement is advisable; or, this not being 
practicable, a corner in the kitchen should be utilized. 

During the time of parturition, she should not be 
molested. All this well meant attention is unneces¬ 
sary and oftentimes is obnoxious to the mother. 
The one who has been taking care of her may look 
in occasionally, say a few words to her, pat her 
on the head or offer her a drink of water and then 
leave her, if all is going well. In case of complica¬ 
tions it is time enough to interfere, and then on 
such occasions it is well to have the services of an 
expert; but normally, these contingencies are rare. 
If the period of parturition extends over many hours 
it might be well to take the puppies away as they 
are born; put them in a flannel-lined basket and 
coyer them with a flannel blanket, and keep them 
in a warm place until the mother has completed 
her labors. The puppies, however, should be left 
with her after thev are born until the mother gives 
them her attention ; for she will clean them and dry 


Care of the Matron—Rearing the Puppies 117 

them much better than could be clone by human 
hands. The whelping nest is also looked after by 
the mother, and so is the placenta, or afterbirth. 
Leave her alone and when you return to her after 
the puppies are all whelped you will find everything 
clean and in as satisfactory condition as might be 
expected. Do not, under any circumstances, attempt 
to wash or handle the puppies. All the care that 
they need will be given them by the mother. After 
all is over, perhaps it might be well to sponge the 
mother off and dry her thoroughly, for the escape of 
the waters (liquor amnii) may leave her in an un¬ 
suitable condition. When left to shift for herself 
and the mother selects a place under the barn or 
some other similar place, the dampness will be 
absorbed by the dry earth, hence no attention is 
necessary or possible; but where it takes place under 
the supervision of the master, it is well to change 
the bedding, in which a little disinfectant may be 
used in order to ward off fleas or other vermin. 
In sponging off the mother, luke warm water, in 
which a few drops of any of the creosote prepara¬ 
tions have been poured, should be used ; but as pre¬ 
viously stated, she must be thoroughly dried and 
then allowed to return to her family. 

Usually the flow of milk begins several days 
before the puppies are born, but very frequently it 
stops during the time of whelping. This is due to 
the strain, excitement and other conditions, but this 
need not worry the owner. The milk will come 
in due time and there need be no artificial methods 
resorted to; unless febrile symptoms are apparent, 


118 


Beagles and Beagling 


in which case expert attention is necessary. This 
however, does not often occur if the matron has 
lived under normal conditions during her period of 
gestation, and it is surprising how nature takes 
care of itself. The puppies will immediately suckle 
the mother after they are born, and when the whelp¬ 
ing is over and all are put hack in the nest, it is 
an interesting sight to watch their instinctive 
scrambling for position. Another point that should 
not be disregarded is that the bitch must have her 
absolute freedom. She must not feel that she is 
a prisoner and should be allowed to go in an out of 
the barn or kennel at will. Nothing must be forced 
upon the young mother at this time. She should 
have her own way and this is particularly impera¬ 
tive with one of the nervous kind; for if there is 
cause for her to fret, the milk will become tainted 
and the puppies will suffer. After the whelping is 
well over, it is well to offer the mother some food, 
which should be in the nature of gruel, broth, from 
which the grease has been skimmed, or even small 
bits of lean, raw beef. Sometimes when the flow 
of milk is scanty or wholly suppressed the feeding 
of raw meat will he a splendid stimulant. During 
this period and even preceding the whelping, the 
bowels of the mother should be kept open, not by 
drastic cathartics, but by doses of olive or castor 
oil; or if absolutely necessary, a dose of Epsom salts. 

Sometimes it occurs that the milk of the mother 
is of such a nature that it is absolutely injurious 
to the puppies, due to acidity. It will become notice¬ 
able at once, for the puppies will whine and he gen- 


Care of the Matron—Rearing the Puppies 119 


erally ill at ease after nursing, and if it is long 
continued they will die one by one. This condition 
is easily corrected, however, if bicarbonate of soda is 
given three times daily. The dose should be about 
as much as can be heaped upon a dime. If this 
condition is not corrected at once, it will be disas¬ 
trous to the puppies. In such cases it is well to 
procure a foster mother. Naturally, if this is the 
first litter, the qualities of the mother as a nurse 
are unknown; but where trouble of this kind has 
been experienced before, it is well to provide for 
the foster mother in advance, so that she will be 
on hand to assume the duties of the real mother at 
a moment’s notice. For further information and 
more minute particulars regarding the foster mother 
or raising puppies on a bottle, I would suggest that 
the beginner procure a copy of a former book of 
mine entitled, “Dog Keeping for the Amateur." 

Under normal conditions little care need be given 
the puppies for the first few weeks, but the mother 
should be well fed and not less than three times 
a day. When the puppies are three weeks old, there 
is reason to suspect worms; for few puppies go 
through life without them, and at this tender age 
these parasites are prone to work sad havoc. Many 
a litter of puppies die off rapidly for no other reason 
than because they have not been treated. Some are 
averse to treating puppies of this tender age for 
worms, but one remedy 1 can recommend as one that 
is safe and effective is “Le Roy’s Puppy Worm 
Remedy, ’ which is one of the best specifics for 
young puppies and in fact any puppy under a year 


Beagles and Beagling 


120 

old, no matter what the breed, that I have ever 
encountered, though no doubt there are others just 
as efficacious. 

Weaning and Feeding the Puppies 

For the first three weeks the mother has sole 
charge of the puppies, but if the litter is a large 
one and the youngsters are becoming too great a 
burden for her, it is well to give her some assistance 
bv beginning to do some supplementary feeding. 
That is, I do not mean that the puppies should be 
weaned at this early age, but much of the care may 
be taken from the mother if they are fed two or 
three times a day. The best plan is to scald the 
milk and place it in a large, flat pan or shallow 
vessel. After it has cooled, bring the puppies up to 
it, dip their noses into it a few times and it will 
be noticed how readily they will lick the liquid off. 
By repeating this a time or two, they will soon 
learn to lap the milk. This supplementary feeding 
may be continued until the puppies are seven or 
eight weeks old, when it is time to wean them 
entirely ; for it will be observed that the constant 
attentions which the mother has been bestowing 
upon them becomes more lax as the weeks pass. 
Indeed, the puppies are large enough now as to 
become irksome to the mother, when they come 
clawing her for sustenance, and she frequently 
remains away from them for hours at a time. How¬ 
ever, if they have been started to lap milk at three 
or four weeks old, it is an easy matter to take the 
mother away entirelv. 


Care of the Matron—Rearing the Puppies 121 

Feeding must be done frequently; during these 
early weeks of weaning, the puppies should he fed 
at least every four hours until very late in the 
evening, and the first meal in the morning must 
be given about daylight. To the scalded milk may 
he added broken up stale bread, dog biscuits, or any 
of the prepared puppy meals. Occasionally give 
them a little meat cut up into small bits, and do 
not be afraid to feed raw meat, lean beef or mutton 
several times a week. Only small quantities should 
be given and this must be cut up into small shreds. 
It is surprising how all puppies take to this, but 
raw meat is the natural diet of the canine and to 
withhold this from them, even when they are young 
is going against the laws of nature. The old fallacy 
that meat is injurious to puppies is a theory that 
has been exploded long ago. Personally, I have 
experimented with puppies by feeding some of 
them meat and withholding it from part of the 
litter and 1 am convinced that the meat fed puppies 
grew up stronger, heartier and with more vitality 
than any of the others that were compelled to live 
on milk and bread. As the puppies grow older, 
more meat may be fed and frequently give them 
large bones to gnaw upon. This is not only good 
for the teething period, but it amuses the youngsters 
and makes for general hardiness. The bones should 
be the large, soft ones; not those of poultry or 
other brittle varieties that are easily splintered, as a 
sliver from one of these might lodge in the intes¬ 
tines or even in the throat and cause no end of 
trouble, probably death. 


Beagles and Beagling 


122 


When the puppies are nine or ten weeks old the 
meals may be cut down to four, but more variety 
may be fed. Meat should always be part of the 
diet for at least two of the meals each day. Milk 
is very nutritious, as it is the natural diet of all 
young mammals, but it stands to reason that as 
the puppies grow older it cannot be fed to the exclu¬ 
sion of all other foods. Say for instance, a milk 
and stale bread ration is fed as the first meal in 
the morning. At ten o'clock the diet may be varied 
by feeding a little cooked meat with the broth, into 
which puppy meal has been stirred or dog biscuits 
have been broken. At two o’clock they may be 
given another good portion of meat, broth and well 
cooked vegetables, prefacing this meal by giving 
them a little raw beef cut up very finely and fed 
in small quantities. In the evening they might have 
another ration similar to the two o'clock meal. This 
diet may be varied in many ways, but what should 
be impressed upon the mind of every beginner is 
that meat is not only not injurious, but highly essen¬ 
tial for puppies, if best results in growth and general 
hardihood are to be expected. 1 am not much of 
a believer in cereals, such as, corn or oatmeal, par¬ 
ticularly the former; although for an occasional 
change such foods may be fed at rare intervals. 

When the puppies are twelve weeks old the num¬ 
ber of meals may be reduced to three. It is well 
at this age to treat for worms again, for even though 
they have been thoroughly eradicated when the 
puppies were very young, it is a practical certainty 
that they are again infested. Indeed some breeders 


Care of the Matron—Rearing the Puppies 123 

advocate treating* puppies for worms once every 
month or six weeks and I do not believe this system 
is in the least at fault. 

1 he mother by this time has gone hack to the 
ranks of the aged dogs and the puppies are given 
a runway or yard to themselves. At least this should 
he done, for the youngsters will thrive better among 
their own kind, than if they were to be placed in 
the same kennels with their elders. Feeding should 
he continued three times a day until the puppies are 
six months' old and then a morning and evening 
meal, both of rather liberal proportions should be 
given. After the puppies are a year old, unless 
there is special reason, they may be fed like the old 
dogs; and in this connection I might observe that 
some dog owners feed only once a day, and that 
meal is given in the evening, while others believe 
in feeding a light meal in the morning and the full 
meal late in the afternoon or evening. 

The training of the puppies I have alluded to in 
the earlier chapters, but it is assumed that if the 
breeder retains the whole or part of the litter he 
will begin on their education when the proper time 
arrives. 

The selection of a puppy out of a litter is fre¬ 
quently a momentous occasion and in this connec¬ 
tion I might observe that those who see the young 
every day will know better how to select than the 
person who comes for the first time to look them 
over. Seeing* a litter of puppies about the kennel 
yard in their romps and their play moods, and under 
all circumstances, gives one a wonderful insight 


12-1 


Beagles and Beagling 


into their character, their individuality and their 
idiosyncrasies. One will be bold and fearless, gen¬ 
erally the leader at all times; when it comes to play¬ 
ing or feeding. Another may be timid and cowed 
and still another may have a combination of char¬ 
acters. For field uses it is always a safe venture to 
select the boldest of the lot, but if conformation 
and markings are to be given consideration above 
actual field promise, then the case is altered and 
one must be governed accordingly; but, it is scarcely 
necessary to suggest to the man who has seen a 
litter of beagles grow up under his very eyes, from 
the day they were whelped until they are ten or 
twelve months' old, how to make his selection of 
first or second choice. 







The Beagle Champion, Stirnkorb’s Drive ’Em. 










CHAPTER VIII 


Type and Standard of the Beagle 

r I WPE in the beagle has been a subject for clis- 
cussion ever since the days of the early impor¬ 
tations and in all probability it will continue to be 
so. That, however, is a perennial subject with most 
all breeds. With the beagle the difference between 
the bench and the field trial types is not so pro¬ 
nounced, as is the case with the English setter, 
nevertheless there is a difference. As has been stated 
in one of the earlier chapters, only two beagles in 
the history of the breed have become champions in 
the field and on the bench, which is some indication 
of the diversity; but still this does not prove every¬ 
thing, for as with the setter fanciers, there are 
certain classes who devote their time to field trials 
while others prefer the emoluments of the show ring. 

Whether or not the two will ever actuallv come 
together in the evolution of the happy medium is 
about the same question that has been agitating 
setter breeders for so many years. 

Regarding type in the beagle, the discussions 
have been interesting and as they give the novice 
a fairly good idea as to what breeders were striving 
for, I shall quote some of the writings of early 
breeders which Eugene Lentilhon has gathered to¬ 
gether in his excellent book, “Forty Years' P»eagling 
in the United States.” 

Under the title “Standard and Judge,” J. M. 
Pulley, using the nom de plume, “Comedy,” had the 


Type and Standard of the Beagle 127 

following to say in answer to letters that appeared 
in print that same year ( 1895 ). Comedy writes: 

“So long as matters rested with the terrier men, 
so long was I satisfied to let it rest, but now that 
it has touched on ‘ye by the hound’ I feel that I 
should like to say a word or two. Our Gloversville 
friend (Mr. Zimmer) is right when he remarks 
that ‘Some men who have judged this breed 
(beagle) in times past could do some thinking to 
advantage.’ For we scarcely ever see prizes 
awarded to dogs of the same type. At some shows 
we see first go to a long-bodied dog which favors 
the Basset or Dachshund shape, and second to a 
dog that is perhaps good in body, but whose head 
is anything but that of a beagle and with ears and 
eyes like a terrier ; truly, ‘how long since the beagle 
must have a terrier eye?' 

“I, too, am in favor of a cobby body, and I think 
all men that are looking for staying qualities are 
of the same taste. Of course, I can't overlook the 
fact that we get more dog if we get a longer body, 
and I am inclined to think that such a type is less 
likely to throw oversized hounds, but is it not more 
creditable to breed one or two good typical beagles 
than a lot of long, low hounds that put their growth 
in length ? 

“The question of head is rather hard to put on 
paper, but with all due respect to the breeders of 
the different dogs mentioned and to the ones un- 
mentioned, some perhaps I cannot refer to because 
I have never seen them, but the type that I consider 
right and are most sought for are such as are to 
be seen on dogs as imported Lonely, bitch, and 


128 


Beagles and Beagling 


Bowman, dog, and in small dogs I very much admire 
the head of Laick’s ‘Rov.’ I only mention these 
hounds to describe what I consider a proper head 
for a beagle; besides which they are good in bone, 
coat and body. Royal Krueger, I have heard much 
of, but somehow have always missed seeing him and 
I am only acquainted with the owner of one of the 
dogs mentioned, so that I have no interest in writing 
of them. 

“While writing I have before me some measure¬ 
ments which I have taken which I find useful as a 
criterion, if I have occasion to put the tape measure 
over any dog that takes my eye. I find that the 
head of a dog about fifteen inches high averages 
about y l / 2 inches long, the girth of the head double 
that, or very nearly. Some of the English dogs do 
not grow much over 13 inches, girth of head, but 
the cheeky, throaty hounds, whose voices are usually 
deeper have more head girth; girth of muzzle from 
7 to 7^4 inches; a good pair of ears set on, low 
measured, naturally on, and a head will go from 
17 to 1754 inches, such a dog will have deep flews 
and considerable dewlap; the eyes I prefer large as 
described by the standard, also I prefer them wide 
apart, so that the front edges of the ears are very 
little farther apart than the outside corners of the 
eyes, this latter marks the beagle characteristics 
strongly. 

“For neck I prefer a fair length, but not enough 
to make the body long, as I consider it almost im¬ 
possible to get a long neck without more length 
of body than I care for, as I find that from tip of 
the nose to set-011 of tail in the dogs I look upon 


Type and Standard of the Beagle 129 

as beagles in body, measure about 28 inches to a 
15-inch dog and some less. I know of one 13-inch 
bitch that measures but 24 inches, and to bear out 
the staying qualities statement, she has run a fox 
track over 24 hours right away. I think most of 
the measurements quoted here for a 15-inch dog 
would be about in line with the standard as laid 
down by the Beagle Club, and it is by such a 
standard that all beagle men should insist on having 
their hounds judged, and if as ‘Debonair’ (Mr. 
Zimmer) says, such standard does not meet with 
the views of the representative beagle men, but I, 
for one, am not in favor of any change, for I con¬ 
sider it has been the aim of most breeders to breed 
to that standard and any radical change therein 
would be an injustice to them. 

“If it is- to please the views of those who have 
a dog or two that does not conform pretty nearly 
to the standard, it would be a still greater injustice 
to those who have spent both time and money to 
produce a typical beagle. No, let us breed to the 
standard as laid down and insist on having judges 
go by the standard, and if we see that they do not, 
why 1 am sure our friends will gladly welcome any 
honest criticism that is made in good faith, such 
as I have intended this to be. 

“There is one thing more I want to refer to, 
and that is exhibitors who try to catch the eye or 
ear of a judge, either before the class goes into the 
ring, or at the time they go in, sometimes by posting 
the judge by saying, ‘this is my dog Charter, by 
Scavenger Columbine, he took first and special at 
P. last year. Or when the class is called there is 


130 


Beagles and Beagling 


a blue or reel ribbon on the clog’s collar. Is this 
right ? Is this fair to the exhibitor, who through 
some engagement, is unable to he present to handle, 
perhaps, his one or two dogs he has carefully bred, 
and for whom the rich breeder has no more respect 
that I have for some ‘trundle tail’ type? Is it for 
the good of any breed that judges will allow them¬ 
selves to be so biased or that breeders will so dis¬ 
honor themselves?” 

In the same publication a writer signing himself 
“Chicasaw” writes under the heading, “Standard 
or Individual Opinions.” “I think,” he writes, 
“I will elect to write my little say on this subject 
under the above caption as I think it more definitely 
defines the chasm which seems to divide the ideas 
that some of our judges appear to have and the 
standard which they should uphold. I would like 
to know how many judges study the standard in¬ 
telligently, which means carefully, and then seek 
to fit the dogs to them? Do they not gather their 
conceptions of what a good dog should be from 
the winners they find on the benches? 

“There are few men who can define the standard 
properly. Your Gloversville friend (Mr. Zimmer) 
refers to cobbiness in a beagle. I am not a beagle 
man, further than I like to see the little hounds and 
hear their cry, still a dog of the cobby build of 
Champion Royal Krueger, Champion Lonely, Bow¬ 
man and but one or two more I could mention, 
catches my eye for the eternal fitness of things, very 
much quicker than would Molly, Champion Twin- 
two, or Wixom’s Dorcas, I think her name is, which 
are long-backed, if I remember rightly. There will 


Type and Standard of the Beagle 


131 


never be a concensus of opinion upon the different 
values of a standard. ‘A’ judges St. Bernards; he 
must have type, extreme quality, markings and all 
that go to make a good St. Bernard head, and if 
a dog is able to round the ring without falling over, 
he’ll get the prize, sure, provided he has the requi¬ 
site head properties. Next show comes along ‘B’, 
a judge who believes head properties, markings, 
type, etc., easy enough to breed, sound legs and 
active movement are the sine qua nous he must look 
out for, and if he does not take care ‘B’ will do 
more harm than good, however requisite it is that 
these particular dogs should have better ‘under¬ 
standings.’ 

“Standards scale the value of points and their 
numbers show their relative value, but how many 
jud ges are there in America today, that if tackled 
in the ring, could give tables of point values cor¬ 
rectly, or even approximately of the majority of 
the breeds they handle? Still this should be, in 
mv estimation, the basis of a true judge's capa¬ 
bilities. In my idea, a true judge is one who, mind¬ 
ful of the standard, weighs each point in its proper 
relation to the whole. A woman may have beautiful 
eyes, but if she has a flat nose and a humpback, she 
does not appeal to one as a handsome woman. It is 
not from the super-excellence of any one point that 
breeders evolve perfection. It is rather from the 
selection of animals that, not superlatively good in 
one point, are good all round. How often do you 
hear some judge, when questioned as to his decision, 
on say a fox terrier, to make it easy, and it is pointed 
out to him how large the dog’s ears are, how full 


The Beagle, Imported Thorpe Satchville Hamlet. 

























Type and Standard of the Beagle 


133 


in the eye, and short in the muzzle it is, exclaim, 
‘Ah! but I couldn’t g*et away from his beautiful 
front!’ Do forelegs and shoulders constitute the 
alpha and omega of a fox terrier? Not much! 
Give me the dog that as a whole comes nearer to 
the ideal set forth by the standard. Can Major 
Taylor tell us what standard he has had in mind 
when placing some of the field trial dogs high up 
in the scale of honor at dog shows ? He had formed 
ideas of his own. Type was one thing, and seeming 
ability to gallop, which any setter not deformed, 
should be able to do was another and ‘another’ got 
the verdict. 

“What are we to think of a judge who gives three 
money prizes to three dogs, each different in its 
general make-up? To he kind, I should say that 
the judge did not know what he did want, and that 
while recognizing the value of certain points he 
recognized them individually, and not as he should 
do collectively. One could scribble on this track till 
the end of your valuable paper, but I really do 
believe that some of our judges should be taught a 
realization of the importance of the duties they 
assume, and the power they have to make or mar 
a breed. Perhaps some judges may ask me what 
I would do with a class of dogs, none of which 
really came up to the standard of requirements, but 
were not bad enough to turn out of the ring. Beyond 
admitting that sometimes judges are misunderstood 
when they face such troublous condition, I will 
excuse myself.” 

From these quotations of more than a quarter 
of a century ago it will be observed that the standard 



134 


Beagles and Beagling 


was misunderstood or it was misinterpreted with 
the same frequency as prevails at the present time, 
but it takes differences of opinion to make a dog 
show or field trial and the differences will continue. 
The beginner is advised to study the standard care¬ 
fully and endeavor to breed dogs that will conform 
to it as nearly as possible, both with a view of breed¬ 
ing field performers and bench winners. 

The full standard of the breed follows and that 
will close my book, but before doing so I wish to 
reiterate that the beagle classes at bench shows as 
well as field trials are divided into two classes; 
those that are thirteen inches and under and those 
that are over thirteen and under fifteen inches. The 
standard applies to both sizes. 

The Beagle Standard 

As Adopted by the National Beagle Club of 

America. 

Head —The skull should be fairly long, slightly 
domed at occiput, with cranium broad and full. 

Ears —Ears set on moderately low, long, reaching 
when drawn out nearly, if not quite, to the end of the 
nose; fine texture, fairly broad—with almost entire 
absence of erectile power—setting close to the head 
with the forward edge slightly inturning to the cheek 
—rounded at the tip. 

Eyes —Eyes large, set well apart—soft and hound¬ 
like—expression gentle and pleading; of a brown or 
hazel color. 

Muzzle —Muzzle of medium length—straight and 
square cut—the stop moderately defined. 

Jaws —Level. Lips free from flews; nostrils large 
and open. 

Defects —A very flat skull, narrow across the top; 
excess of dome; eyes small, sharp and terrier-like, or 
prominent and protruding; muzzle long, snipey or cut 


135 


Type and Standard of the Beagle 

away decidely below the eyes, or very short. Roman 
nosed, or upturned, giving a dish-faced expression. 
Ears short, set on high or with a tendency to rise above 
the point of origin. 

Body, Neek and Throat —Neck rising free and light 
from the shoulders, strong in substance yet not loaded, 
of medium length. The throat clean and free from 
folds of skin; a slight wrinkle below the angle of the 
jaw, however, may be allowable. 

Defects —A thick, short, cloddy neck carried on a 
line with the top of the shoulders. Throat showing 
dewlap and folds of skin to a degree termed “throati¬ 
ness.” 

Shoulders and Chest —Shoulders sloping—clean, 
muscular, not heavy or loaded—conveying the idea 
of freedom of action with activity and strength. Chest 
deep and broad, but not broad enough to interfere with 
the free play of the shoulders. 

Defects —Straight, upright shoulders. Chest dis¬ 
proportionately wide or with lack of depth. 

Back, Loin and Ribs —Back short, muscular and 
strong. Loin broad and slightly arched, and the ribs 
well sprung, giving abundance of lung room. 

Defects —Very long or swayed or roached back. 
Flat, narrow loins. Flat ribs. 

Fore Legs —Straight, with plenty of bone in pro¬ 
portion to size of the dog. Pasterns short and straight. 

Feet —Close, round and firm. Pad full and hard. 

Defects —Out at elbows. Knees knuckled over for¬ 
ward or bent backward. Fore legs crooked, or Dachs¬ 
hund-like. Feet long, open or spreading. 

Hips and Thighs —Strong and well muscled, giving- 
abundance of propelling power. Stifles strong and 
well let down. Hocks firm, symmetrical and moder¬ 
ately bent. Feet close and firm. 

Defects —Cow hocks or straight hocks. Lack of 
muscle and propelling power. Open feet. 

Tail —Set moderately high; carried gaily, but not 
turned forward over the back, with slight curve; short 
as compared with the size of the dog; with brush. 


Beagles and Beagling 


136 


Defects —A long tail. Teapot curve or inclined for¬ 
ward from the root. Rat tail, with absence of brush. 

Coat —A close, hard, hound coat of medium length. 

Defects —A short thin coat, or of a soft quality. 

Height —Height not to exceed 15 inches; measured 
across the back at the point of the withers, the dog 
standing in a natural position with his feet well 
under him. 

Color —Any true hound color. 

General Appearance —A miniature Foxhound, solid 
and big for his inches, with the wear-and-tear look 
of the dog that can last in the chase and follow his 
quarry to the death. 


Scale of Points. 

Skull . 5 

Ears. 10 

Eyes. 5 

Muzzle . 5 

Neck . 5 

Chest and shoulders . 15 

Back, loins and ribs . 15 

Fore legs . 10 

Hips, thighs and hind legs. 10 

Feet . 10 

Coat. 5 

Stern . 5 


Total 


[The End.] 


100 
































































































































































































































